Swordsman's Ashes
by TaiKetch'em
Summary: All I wanted to do was play a game that my father has tested because I wanted to play the best game ever... however what happened to me was something I didn't want nor did I expect. Trapped inside this death game with 10,000 people, I will not die, I will get back to the real world no matter what. (AlfiemShipping)
1. World of Swords

Okay, if you're wondering why I'm still uploading new stories, I give up on even telling myself I don't know. I do this because I want to get my ideas out there, make them known to the public. Also, SAO is one of my favorite shows right now, so I just can't hold this in my head anymore.

I don't own SAO or Pokémon and credit goes to their original owners.

2020, 2 years before SAO's release

A young boy stood right next to his father's bed where his father was sitting. He was happy when he heard that his own father got to be a Beta tester, he couldn't believe it ether. His father was a programmer and has been known to test technology of all sorts, but when he heard he was also preparing to test the one of the most best games they might have, Sword Art Online, he couldn't be any happier.

"Hey dad, when Sword Art Online releases, can I get to play it." The boy asked his father.

"Heh, sure thing kiddo. I promise that when comes out, I'll head straight to the store to get it okay?" The man said patting his son on the head.

"Hehe! Okay, dad!" The boy said.

And with that, his father put on the Nerve Gear, activated it, laid down and looked at his son one last time seeing that smile on his face before saying… "Link Start!" Unfortunately, on that same day, something tragic happened.

*Electric burst*

"FAATTHERRRRR!"

On that same day, the power at their house went out… and the boy's father, has met with a terrible fate.

2022, SAO's release date

" _Hey there, time for this week's MMO Stream! You just saw a promo of today's featured game, and this is what last week's launch date looked like. Can you guess what everyone's waiting in line for? Sword Art Online!"_ A live feed video was playing on a desktop computer as a young boy was going through some articles about the Nerve Gear, and how there were several incidents back then.

He knew one of those incidents was the one thing that destroyed his life up until now. Not only that, he also too the time to read about the creator of Sword Art Online; Akihiko Kayaba. Ever since he heard about him creating the Nerve Gear, he looked up to him and is the reason he has it today, is one of those reasons.

Not only that, he remembers that Kayaba didn't invent such an amazing technology by himself. And because he knows who helped him by testing some of the rigs for the Nerve Gear and who helped him with tweaks here and there.

"Alright, time to get going." He said as he shut off his computer then set up the rig.

Two years he's had it and has only played so many games on it. But now, that was going to change. He put on the helmet, turned on the system, and laid down on his bed. As he was about go into the virtual world, he smiled, hoping that someone was watching down on him with the same smile as well.

"Link start!"

 _(Entering Virtual World)_

 _Touch: OK  
Sight: OK  
Hearing: OK  
Taste: OK  
Smell: OK_

 _Language: Japense  
Application: Sword Art Online  
User: ******  
Password: ******_

 _Character Registration: Ash(M)  
Use beta-test data?: Yes_

Welcome to Sword Art Online

And with that, the young man had entered the virtual world. He opened his eyes and looked around, he was in a town of some sort. Not only that, but it seemed other players were logging in as well. He looked down at his hands and closed them into a fist. "It's been a while hasn't it?" He said in a different, more older voice.

His avatar was a tall man with spikey black hair (Think of Natsu from Fairy Tail but black instead of pink) and his face was very different compared to his normal one, along with the standard outfit for starting players and a standard sword at his side. "Well SAO… I'm finally here." He said as more and more people keep coming in and from that moment on, the greatest game, was now officially released to the public.

Chapter 1: World of Swords

Ash was about to start moving and looking around, until some girl appeared in front of him which he got startled by a little. "Welcome back, would you like a tutorial?" Then a box appeared in front of him.

 _Replay the tutorial?_

Was what it said with a yes and no option on it, this girl was probably an NPC for all he knew. He never got to play the beta so, he picked yes just for an explanation on how to play. "Great, let's get started with the basics."

(About an hour and a half later)

It was a pain, but he finally managed to figure out how to do most of the stuff that would help him in the game. Ash learned about some of the basics to sword fighting and figured out how to work the menu in a little bit of time. The menu was probably the most important thing he'd need, and the way to activate it is to swipe your hand down, pretty simple.

After the whole tutorial experience, Ash decided to take a look at his characters stats from the beta account. They were pretty high, and this was impressive that he had such high stats, although they wouldn't exactly make you invincible they were amazing.

With that all settled, he decided to take a look around Floor 1's map, the Town of Beginnings. He was doing some things with the col, which was money in SAO, that he had like buying some food and even getting a different sword with more reach, though it was a little heavy. He didn't want to go crazy and spent all of his money from the beta, so he just bought simple things.

All and all, he ran past a man with dark brown spikey hair as well as catching his attention. (Think of Grey from Fairy Tail but brown instead of dark blue) He then went running into an alley way, before someone began calling out to him.

"Hey, you! Wait!" A voice shouted as he stopped and turned around to see the same guy he ran past earlier.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I saw that avatar in the livestream for the beta test. Are you a Beta-tester?" The guy asked him.

"Well, sort of. Actually, my father was a Beta-test, this is my first time in this game." The man replied.

"Oh, well, do you at least know how to play this game? People say you should have had a lady appear telling you a tutorial or something, but I never had one pop up." He asked again.

He was taken aback from hearing this but thought that it might just be a bug since the game just released. "Well, I sort of know how to fight and stuff. But if you're looking for some tips, then…" He didn't get a chance to finish as he was cut off.

"Aw, come on man. I'm not asking the impossible, I just wanna know how to play. If it makes you more comfortable, my name is Gary." The guy then told him.

He glanced at the guy now known as Gary for a second before smirking. "Okay, then you can call me Ash."

With that, they headed out into the west field to do some training, or in this case grinding. But when Gary tried to take on a Frenzy Boar, he got knocked down in seconds. Holding his guts in pain and groaning as well, Ash sighed at how bad he was at this.

"Dude, this is a video game, the pain isn't that bad." He told the noob.

"Huh? Oh, yeah right." The guy then said realizing that pain wasn't that bad in a world that can't hurt you IRL.

"You know what I said about the first move being important?" He asked.

"Easy for you to say, that thing won't stand still. It keeps moving around and stuff." The noob complained.

"Listen, you just got to hit it where it counts. If your initial motion is done right, and if you activate a sword skill at the right time…" Ash said as he picked up a rock then threw it straight at the boar knocking it on its behind. "Then you're guaranteed to hit your target." He stated as the boar got ready to charge.

"Initial motion." Gary said as he tried to figure out what it meant.

"You want an easier way to look at it?" The man stated as he drew his sword and blocked the boar coming at him. "Give it a while before attacking, and when you get the skill beginning to activate, go for it." He explained.

"Um, okay." The brown-haired guy didn't quite understand most of it, but he thought he got the idea as he got into a stance and held his sword high beginning to activate a skill.

Ash saw this and smiled before throwing the boar off him and send him charging at the noob. "Go for it!" He yelled over.

"Okay, here goes nothing!" Gary shouted as he attacked the boar and completely annihilated it, as its health dropped to zero, it shattered into shards and a victory text box appeared telling how much money and EXP he got. "Wohoo! I did it!" He roared in victory.

"Good job." Ash said as he walked over to him and gave him a high-five.

"It was thanks to you." He complimented him.

"Yeah well, have you played games where slimes are enemies? That boar is as weak as them." He explained.

"Wait what? I thought that was thing was some kind of mini-boss or something." Gary said a little freaked out.

"Oh, please. These things aren't close to those. But at least you're getting the hang of it." The black-haired guy stated.

"No kidding." The noob said as he did some movements and activated his sword skill again, amazing himself.

"It is pretty addictive, right?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, these skills, they're awesome." The brown-haired kid stated. "Hey, are you sure you weren't in the beta test? You seem to know what you're doing." He then asked.

"Don't get me wrong, I wasn't in the beta test. I just read a bunch of articles days after my dad gave it a go." He explained.

"Hmph, well must be pretty cool that your old man allowed you to get a heads up, right?" Gary then asked him which took him aback.

He looked like he was thinking about something, as his head dropped a little with his bangs covering his eyes. When he got reminded of his dad, he remembered the incident that happened years ago.

"Huh? Hey man, are you okay?" The brown-haired guy asked concerned.

"Wha… Oh, yeah I'm good." He replied with a smile.

Then they heard the sound of someone yelling out in victory and they turned to see another beta-tester avatar from the livestream with another noob as well. "Guess you're not the only one giving tips here."

"Yeah, looks like it." They watched as the other noob did the same thing. "There's not really anything wrong with the game, but there's no magic here." He explained.

"An RPG without magic!? Whose stupid idea was that?" Gary then asked annoyed.

"Well, I guess it's so they could try something new. I don't think it was a bold decision." Ash explained.

"I don't think wasn't just not a bold decision, I think it was a completely stupid decision." The brown-haired guy said, still a little ticked.

"Well, it's still fun to say the least. Ready to move on?" The black-haired man asked.

"Hell yeah, man!"

(About hours later)

Ash and Gary seemed to have come close, this was both their first time playing SAO and they've gotten their levels at a good height. It was getting late, and there was a beautiful sunset.

"When I look all around this place, it's hard to believe this is a game." Gary stated while also feeling the grass below him. "It looks and feels so real." He said.

"Yeah, makes you feel jealous that people from the beta got to try it first, doesn't it?" Ash asked

"Yeah, well I'm more jealous because it's the first time I used the Nerve Gear." The brown-haired kid stated. "I didn't have one because of how much money they cost, so when I got more than enough I decided to buy this game with it." He explained. "Hey, how far did your old man get in the beta? I can't really remember how far he I saw that avatar go."

"Well, not very far. After floor seven, he couldn't go any further and… well, had couldn't stay there." The black-haired guy stated. "But, one thing's for sure is that I'm gonna surpass him. Cause I'm ready to go for even floors higher than that, and hope that he'll be proud by how far I've come." He told him. "And whether this is a virtual world or not, it's real to me ether way."

Gary smiled because of his little talk, but then his stomach began to growl. "Hey man, I'd love to stay and do more hunting, but I'm kind hungry right now." He told his friend.

"Yeah, too bad the food here can't fill your stomach in the real world." Ash stated.

"Nothing to worry about, I ordered delivery to come by my place around 5:00 to 5:30." The brown-haired guy stated as the son of a beta-tester just looked away. "Hey, I was gonna meet up with my friends from another game. So, I was hoping that maybe we could send you a friend request and you can join our group." He asked him.

"Well, uh…" Ash said as he looked away again.

"Alright, I'm not forcing you. Maybe some other time." He stated.

"Yeah, sure. Some other time." The black-haired guy said.

"I promise one of these days, I'll pay you back for the help… virtually, but I will." Gary said placing an arm on his shoulder. "Still thanks, for everything. Til' I see you again." He said holding out his hand.

"Until we meet again." The son of a beta-tester said shaking it.

Then Gary opened his menu and was gonna log out. But when he tried, the log out button was gone. "Hey, Ash do you have a log out button?" He asked his friend.

"Huh? You don't have one?" Ash questioned. Then he looked at his menu and found that his log out was absent as well. "That doesn't make any sense, it should be right here." He stated.

"Well, it's the first day, so. Guess there are some bugs. People have to freaking out right now." The brown-haired man said out loud.

"Yeah, well you're gonna be as well. Cause it's 5:45." The black-haired guy told him.

"You serious!?" At that point Gary tried calling the game master for help. "Come on, come on, pick up! Come on! Ash, isn't there any other way to log out, like some kind emergency log out or something?"

"… No, the only way out is through the menu."

"Are kidding me!? Fine, I'll just rip the Nerve Gear off!" Gary then grabbed his head and looked like he was trying to pull it off.

"Don't even try. Once hooked inside the game, you can't move your real-world body. The Nerve has an interface built in, so it takes commands from brain and uses them to move your virtual body."

"Arges created a virtual world to dive into, made one exit to said world, and didn't create ANY BACKUP EXIT, in case something like this happen!?"

"Well we could wait for someone to get it off us in the real world."

"Yeah, well the problem is I live with my grandfather and he's away right now."

"… Well, I live with my mother, so she should notice that when I'm not there for dinner something's up."

The two just stood there thinking of what to do now. They couldn't get out of the one game that everyone's been dying to get their hands on, not only that, one little bug like that could ruin the game's reputation for sure. What's also fishy, there wasn't an announcement that something like this would happen.

Then they were snapped from their thoughts as they heard a bell ring. Then all of the sudden they got engulfed in a bright blue light, before they knew it, they were back at the Town of Beginnings. Not just them, everyone else in SAO. Then one of the warning signs appeared in the sky catching everyone's attention as more of them filled the sky.

Then a red liquid poured out of the sky forming a floating cloaked being, freaking out some players. "Attention, players. I welcome you to my world." The being announced. "My name is Akihiko Kayaba. And as of this moment, I am in control of this world."

After hearing what he said, Ash had a flashback to all the articles he read about him, some of the players couldn't believe it was him at all. "I'm sure most of you have taken notice that the logout button is absent from your menu. And I'm here to tell you, this is not a bug. This is how Sword Art Online was meant to be." Kayaba announced. Shocking almost everybody.

"Wait, is he serious?" Gary had to ask.

"There's no way for you to log yourself out of SAO. No one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the Nerve Gear and if someone were to do so, the transmitter inside the system will emit a powerful microwave signal into your skull, ending your life by burning your brain to a crisp." He continued to explain.

By now, some of the people were freaking out, some of them just thought he was full of himself. "Okay, he's gotta be joking about that, right?" Gary asked Ash. He didn't get an answer, so he looked at him and just saw him staring at the creator. "Ash?"

"He's not… the transmitter's signals work like microwaves, if they safety were to get disabled, then you're as good as dead." He explained.

"Wait, can't people just unplug it or something?"

"No, it won't work because it also has a backup after the incidents that happened years ago." Hearing this, Gary was not having the best time.

"Despite my warnings, families and friends tried to remove the Nerve Gear. As a result, 213 have already met their fate. Being deleted from both Aincrad and the real world." Kayaba explained before showing the news and proving that those players were confirmed dead. "As you can see, international media outlets have round the clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. It's safe to assume the Nerve Gear is unable to be removed. Hopefully this will help you all focus on clearing the game."

Ash heard it all, he didn't want to believe it, but he knew this wasn't some joke. "Remember, there is no longer any way to revive someone, so once your heath drops to zero your avatars will vanish. And the Nerve Gear will activate its microwave signals, meaning it's game over."

Once he heard that, flinched. His heartrate increased drastically, sweat forming on his head, and his breathing becoming heavy.

"You only have one chance of escape." Kayaba stated as he showed a hologram of Aincrad. "Make your way to the 100th floor and beat Sword Art Online." He announced, causing everyone to freak out at everything he just said.

"No way, all 100 floors? Not even the beta-testers got that far." Gary said in pure shock.

"One more thing, you have all been provided with an item in your storage. See for yourselves." He said as everyone opened their storage to find a small mirror.

The moment it was taken out, everyone around began to get engulfed in the light again. And when the light died down, something felt different.

"Hey, you okay?" An unfamiliar voice asked him.

"Uh, yeah I'm o…" Then he realized that his voice changed as well.

He turned around and where Gary was standing, was a totally different person. He had the same hair color his hair was spikey, but the hair was slicked forward, and he looked so much younger now. When he looked into the mirror, his hair changed as well. It was spikey but a different style, and his face was so much younger. Not only did he look different, he looked exactly as he did in real life.

"No way… but that means…" He looked back at the kid and figured it out. "Gary?"

"Wow, no way, Ash?" The guy said as he put two and two together. "Hold on, I thought you were much older." He was shocked.

"I think I know. The Never Gear has a high-power signal device, as such it can see what I look like. But my height and body type, it can't do that." Ash stated as he wondered what was going on.

"Hold on, didn't it have some kind of calibration thing, where it asked you to touch every part of your body?" Gary asked. he was making a point, it was how it probably gets physical data. "But, why is he doing this? What's going on?" He was beginning to freak out.

"Calm down. I don't think he's done, yet."

"Right now, you all must wondering why. Why me; Akihiko Kayaba would do such a thing." Kayaba stated. "My goal was simple, to create and control the fate of world of my own design. And now, that goal has been achieved. This is the end of the tutorial and is the launch of Sword Art Online. As for the remaining players, I wish you the best of luck." He explained one last time before vaporizing into red smoke and going back up into the sky before the red disappeared.

Everyone stood there, frozen in fear. 9,787 still remained alive in the virtual world. For Ash, he didn't know what to think. After everything he just heard, everything Kayaba just said, he didn't want to believe. But he had no choice, he was trapped in a death game, and he can't convince himself that he wasn't

" _FAATTHERRRRR!"_

Then just like that, every began screaming, shouting, and freaking out altogether. He couldn't stay there, not any longer. He grabbed Gary's hand then began running off with him. In a good amount of time they managed to get out of the crowd and were on their way to who knows where.

"Hey, hey! Hold on!" Gary yelled as he yanked his arm away forcing them to stop. "What are you doing, where are we going?"

"Gary, I'm gonna head out to the next village on this floor and I want you to come with me." He explained.

"Wait, you want my help?" He asked confused.

"Well, if what he said is true, the only way we're gonna survive is to get as strong as we can." Ash explained as he opened a menu of a map. "In MMORPG, the money and EXP you can earn is limited. Once the game starts up there's only so much to go around. Pretty soon, the fields around the Town of Beginnings will be wiped clean, so heading to the village now will allow us to have an easier time grinding." He explained.

"Yeah, thanks but… remember when I said I was gonna meet up with some friends earlier? Well, they're all probably still back at the plaza. I can't leave them behind." Gary told him.

The black-haired boy just stood there looking upset, he couldn't bring his more than one people to die for him, if it was just Gary it'd be okay but a whole guild... "… I understand. I guess I'll see you around then?"

"Don't worry about it, I was in a guild in the last game I played. Plus, with everything I've learned so far we shouldn't have a problem." The brown-haired boy told him.

"I see… well in that case, I'll be on my way."

"Wait, Ash… You look better like this." The brown-haired boy said to him. "That spikey hair goes better with you than your avatar."

Ash just stared at him before saying… "Yeah well, that look fits you as well." He said to him before taking off.

(Ash's P.O.V.)

As I was running ahead, I stopped for a second before turning back to see that Gary was gone. I flinched for a second… a somewhat tear forming in my eye as I just took off and headed down the trail to the next village. I wasn't gonna let this game beat me… no matter what, I will survive and get back to the real world.

 **(AmaLee/SAO: Crossing Field)**

 **I was never right,**

 **For the hero type of role,**

 **I admit it.**

 **With my heart,**

 **Shivering in fear,**

 **I can see today's reflected**

 **In each past tear.**

 **Even so,**

 **It has been calling**

 **The heavens, to me,**

 **But I cannot hide**

 **All the emptiness inside**

 **My fleeting heart.**

 **Once in my dreams**

 **I rose and soared!**

 **No matter**

 **How I'm knocked, around,**

 **Or beaten down,**

 **I will stand up**

 **Restored!**

 **All of my love**

 **Has yet to wake,**

 **I know your strength**

 **Is what, I lack,**

 **You've got, my back,**

 **And now that I've got yours!**

 **I have you to thank for lighting up the dark,**

 **Because you're here with me**

 **Our dreams will soar free**

 **Forever!**

 **I wanna always be with you,**

 **I give you everything I have!**

In case you're wondering if there's gonna be a pairing there is… KiritoxAsuna.  
I know, I know, but if you want an actual pairing with Ash, take a guess as to who it is. I announced that Kirito was going to be with Asuna, because come on, you seriously think I'm okay with putting Asuna with anyone else? I mean I guess Sachi would work with Kirito, but I can't put anyone else with Asuna.  
I know my challenge is to prove I can pair Ash with any girl, but Asuna can't be one of those girls. There're four other girls in the SAO series, who do you think is gonna be with Ash?


	2. Beater

Okay, while we're on the subject, I just wanna say that it's not gonna be Sachi because… well, I just don't wanna take Kirito's love for Sachi then send it over to someone else. I know that Asuna is gonna be the one to get with Kirito but it's just that I can't break the connection between those two. A little warning, there're some language you'll have to excuse.

Ever since the game began, a whole month has already gone by. And in just that month, no one has been able to clear the first floor. The worst part; 2,000 more players died in the process. Even Ash is still unable to figure out where to find the boss room. You may think that having the account of a Beta-tester means that he would easily find where it is, but that account was his father's not his own.

He wouldn't be surprised if any of the returning Beta-testers mistook the boy for him though. Plus, the name of that account was probably shown in the livestream. Then again, Gary watched the livestream and it seemed as though he had no idea what his name was. So, the name to people who weren't Beta-testers might not catch on, nor his appearance since instead of the avatar he looked like his real self.

There was a meeting that was about the boss on this floor, Ash was planning to be there, but it was still early so he had some time to spare. He was thinking that maybe he could buy like a shield or something, then he thought that maybe he shouldn't. The shields weren't pricey he just didn't think that he'd need one right now.

But the boy did check to see if they had any other weapons he might be able to use, he also needed to stock up on some items since even though it's the first boss, he needs to be prepared. He heard the sound of someone upset and turned to see a little girl with her hair in twin-tails look around nervous. It appears she had no idea as to what to buy.

She had a standard dagger, but it seemed as though she was confused as to what supplies she should get or if she needed a new weapon or something, or more likely she was uncomfortable at the fact that there were many other people that were older than her around in the shop. He couldn't just leave her like that, he had to help.

"Having trouble there?" He asked while walking up to her. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she suddenly heard him behind her. "Uh, sorry about that, guess I shouldn't have came up from behind you like that." He then said.

She didn't say anything, she just looked at him nervously. The little girl just looked away, having no idea what to say to him at all, she was more or less shy since Ash was a complete stranger to her. That didn't stop him from wanting to help, whether she was a stranger or not he'd help someone as terrified as her ether way.

"Well, if I used a dagger as my main weapon, I'd pick this one here." He said pointing at one of the daggers that seemed to be in better shape. "I've appraised that one, it's made out of stronger metal so, it has longer durability. You'll need to have one that's strong enough last long if you're going into a battle with a wild beast." He explained to her.

She looked back at him, then back to the weapon and nodded before deciding to pick that same dagger. "U-um… t… thank you." She said nervously.

"No worries, happy to help." He said to her as he decided that his work here was done. "If you need any help, don't be afraid to ask, miss… uh…" He then remembered that he didn't get her name.

"S-S-Silica…" She said in a shy tone.

"Hmph, then you can call me Ash. Good luck." He said as he left the shop.

The little girl watched him leave and thought that he was really nice to her, even though he knew she was a stranger he was still kind to her. The kindness of that boy actually brought that little girl to smile.

Chapter 2: Beater

In the arena of floor 1, it was time for the meeting to begin. "Okay, people, now that everyone's here let's get this meeting started." A man with blue hair stated as Ash took a seat in the crowd, behind a person in a hood. "I wanna thank everyone who came here today. My name is Diabel, and in this game the job that I am enrolled in is 'Knight'." The moment that came out of his mouth everyone burst with laughter.

"Dude, there's no job system in this game!" One of the players yelled out.

"You wanna hear this, or not?" He countered back. "So, anyway the point is the boss room, our party has found out that it's at the top of the town today." He said getting everyone's attention.

"First thing's first, we need to beat the boss then we can finally make it to the 2nd floor. The next step is break the news to everyone to encourage them that this game can be beaten. That's why I brought the most capable players I can find here." He explained.

Everyone seemed to like what he said and clap out to him. Ash was impressed as well, Diabel did make a good impression. "Alright, glad to hear everyone's with me on this. Now we need to form a strategy in order to beat the boss, first is to team up with parties of six." He then told everyone.

This is made Ash flinch. Parties of six? He didn't even know any other five people, and as Diabel was speaking everyone in the crowd seemed to be partying up with the others. Well, everyone except for the person in the hood, in front of him, just to the left. He looked around to see if there was anyone else and spotted a black-haired boy about his age scooting over to them. That would have a party of three.

"You two got left out too, huh?" He asked them.

"Well, I couldn't find any other seats up front." Ash told him.

"Not me, it's just everyone seems as though they're already friends." The person in the hood stated, the voice meant she was a girl.

"Two other solo players. You wanna start a party? You heard Diabel, we're not gonna be able to beat the boss alone. Besides, it's only for this fight." The boy asked them.

He thought about it for a second, he wouldn't particularly say he was a solo player but with the way he seems to be going, he might as well be one. And with a party of three solo players, it'll be less of a big deal when the party gets disbanded. While he was thinking, the other black-haired boy had already partied up with the hooded girl and sent him a party invitation.

He saw the party invite and looked back at him, after that he accepted the request without a second thought. After he did that, two more heath bars appeared below his. 'Kirito and Asuna.' He thought in his head. Kirito was probably the boy while Asuna had to be the girl.

"Okay, everyone have a team?" Diabel asked as everyone in the crowd said yes. "Okay, now then, we should be able to formulate a strategy with some help from the Beta-testers and then…" He never got to finish as someone yelled…

"BETA-TESTERS!?" As an orange haired man jumped into the arena.

"Damnit Kibaou, what do you want?" Diabel yelled in annoyance to the man now known as Kibaou.

"Beta-testers, they're the reason we're stuck in this game!" He yelled out.

"Wha… What are you talking about? Do you have any evidence to back that up?" The blue haired man asked.

"Do I need to tell you dunderheads everything!? The day this stupid ass game started, the Beta-testers just up and vanished, they did nothing to help us beginners! They snagged every good hunting spot, grabbed all the easy quests, not to mention they transferred stats from the Beta! And meanwhile, while they're getting stronger, we've been getting ignored! Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if there were some in this crowd right now!" Kibaou began ranting.

"Show yourselves! Apologize! Hand over all your money and items you've collected! Why should we trust them if they're not gonna trust the party! Someone, give me one reason we should!"

This was pathetic, blaming the Beta-testers for all these things. Some of what that guy said wasn't even true. And if that was the case, when people find out about the account he was using, would they think he was a Beta-tester? And if he did tell them to truth, the only ones who'd probably believe him were the Beta-testers themselves.

"Can I say something?" A man from the crowd asked.

He got up and walked into the arena, he had chocolate brown skin, was bald, and very, very tall and intimidating even. "The name is Agil if you're wondering. Kiboau was it? You say that the Beta-testers should be blamed for the rookie's deaths because they did nothing to help. That's why you want them to give up everything they have, correct?" He asked.

"Well, yeah… Where are you going with this?" Kiboau asked.

"You know the item store hands this out for free, right?" Agil asked him as he pulled out a book. "It's a guide book on tips and strategies on how to survive this game. A lot of people read this yet 2,000 people still died." He explained.

"I got that too you know, what does that have to do with this?" The orange-haired man asked annoyed.

"The Beta-testers are the ones that put this up." The bald man stated which surprised everyone, and made Ash feel a little better. "You all heard me, this is guide book on how to survive this game, put together by the Beta-testers. They did everything they could to help, yet some people still died. And whether some of you didn't read it, it has some information on the boss." He explained as he handed the book to Diabel. He looked back at Kiboau who just looked at him annoyed before they took their seats.

"Okay, thanks for that Agil. As he said, the info on the boss is all in here; the latest issue of this guide book. And according to it, its name is Illfang the Kobold Lord, surrounded by his minions; the Ruin Kobold Sentinels. He carries an Axe and Buckler with four health bars, once the last one turns red he'll switch out to a Talwar. Not to mention his attack patterns can change." Diabel finished as he closed the book.

"Okay, that's it for the briefing. The distribution of loot will work like this: Money will be divided equally among everyone, and the party that defeats the boss gets the EXP. Whoever gets an item is allowed to keep it. Any questions?" He then asked. "Alright then, we leave at 10 in the morning tomorrow. Meeting adjourn."

And with that, the meeting was over and everyone decided to do their own thing. Some people left and some stayed to talk with each other, although Asuna was one of those people who left. Kiboau apologized for his little… shindig that he did. Meanwhile, Ash left as well.

(Later that night at Tolbana)

During this time a few players from the meeting got together, drinks were passed around, sociability was all around. Everyone seemed to be getting along just fine. But Ash, he was there, just not joining them. He just stood there watching everybody get along so well, he thought he should go and join the event, but didn't feel like it. Then he saw Asuna sitting by herself away from the activities as well, he thought that since they are in the same party that they should talk a little about how they might be able to fight the boss. But he was stopped before doing so.

"Hey there." A familiar voice said to him as he turned around and saw Kirito heading over to him. Was he there for the same reason? "It's been a while hasn't it?" He asked.

"Huh?" Ash asked confused.

"Wow, you know your avatar really did make you look older, didn't it?" He then said which shocked the boy a little.

'How could he know what my avatar looked like, and why is he acting like he knows me? Could he…?' He thought as he began to put the puzzle together. "You're… one of the Beta-testers, aren't you?" He then asked.

"Well, yeah, of course. Guess you don't remember me since we were only in a party for a few hours before you got disconnected, right?" Kirito then asked him.

'No way… he's a Beta-tester and he knows my dad.'

"You do remember me a little, right?" He asked again.

"Uh… um…" Ash was nervous inside, should he tell him that it wasn't his father playing right now or was it a bad time? 'Looks like I have to do this. It may not be the best of ideas, but I'll keep letting him think I'm dad for the time being. Once we're out of here, maybe I'll tell him.' He thought since he really had no idea what else to do.

"Oh, yeah sorry, I don't remember much from the Beta. Can't say I remember most of the people I met." He told him.

"Really? It's been two years since we last met, though we only each other for a few hours so I guess it kinda makes sense." Kirito stated.

"How'd you find out about me though?" Ash had to ask.

"Well, if you look just up here below your HP gauge, you'll see two health bars. My name is there too." He explained to him as he pointed to the air.

The boy focused where he was pointing, and remembered that, that was the reason he even knew his name. "Oh, right. I forgot about that." He said pretending to be embarrassed.

"Well, now that we're here, guess we should talk to our third member." The other boy stated as they looked over at Asuna who just pulled out some bread.

They decided to go over and talk to her. She tried to take bite out of her bread, and she had a hard time doing so. That or not, she still decided to eat it.

"Hey, those are kind of good, aren't they?" Kirito asked bringing her attention to them.

"Is it alright if we sit here?" Ash asked as she just stared at them for a second before just looking away not saying anything.

They thought that was good enough and sat down, Kirito sat next to Asuna and Ash just sat on the ground next to them, when this happened the hooded girl scooted a little farther from them. "Is this really that good?" She asked as they pulled out some bread as well.

"Well, it's not bad, but I wouldn't say it's really good." The spikey haired boy stated as he took a bite.

"Ever since I came to this town, I've been eating one a day. But I do have ways of making it better." The black-haired boy stated as he pulled out a bottle. "You can try putting some of this on it." He said to them.

Asuna was the first to put her finger on the tip, and a blue glow surrounded her finger. Then Ash did it and the same thing happened. Not really knowing what to do, they just moved their finger around their bread and cream spread around it.

"Cream?" They asked confused as Kirito managed to get some on his before the bottle burst into digital shards.

The black-haired boy took a bite like it was no problem, then Ash did the same and it did taste a little better. Asuna then followed as she bit into it, stayed like that for a few seconds, before scarfing it down. It wasn't that much better was it?

"Where'd you get this?" The spike haired boy asked.

"It's the reward for a quest called 'Heifer Strikes Back'. It's in one of the villages behind us." Kirito told them. "If you wanna know how I did it, I'd be glad to tell you."

"…mm, mm." The girl shook her head no. "I appreciate the offer, but I didn't come here just so I could eat food." She explained.

"Okay, why are you here?" He had to ask.

"So, I can still be me." She told them. "I don't wanna lock myself in a room in the Town of Beginnings, so I can slowly rot away, I'd rather stay the way I am no matter what. Even if it might be suicide, I'm not letting this game get the better of me." She finished.

Just as she did, the other two finished their bread as well. "I wouldn't want a party member dying on me, especially since I do know one of you guys… So, please try not to die tomorrow, either of you." He asked them.

Ash just looked down after hearing that, he couldn't promise that he wouldn't die, but he can say that if he was going to help anyone, at least it'll be someone who he can be friends with.

(The next day through the forest field)

The group of parties were on their way to the boss room, while this was going on, Kirito was explaining a strategy to his party. "Let's go over it again, we're the backup so our target is going to be the Ruin Kobold Sentinels, the boss' minions. I'll use a sword skill to knock their poleaxes, once I do that, one or both of you switch in." He told them.

"Got it." Ash said pretending he knew what switch was. 'This wasn't a good idea, I don't know what a switch even is, but it's a dead giveaway if I ask.' He thought to himself.

"What's a switch?" Asuna then asked.

"Huh?" Kirito said confused.

'Thank you Asuna.' Ash mentally thanked the girl for saving his butt.

"Okay, level with me, is this the first time you've been in a party?" The black-haired boy asked the female player.

"Uh-huh." She said which brought him to a halt and to sigh.

"Okay, I'll try to make this as simple as I can." He then said as the other two stopped with him.

(Minutes later at the front of the boss room)

"Listen up, everyone. I've only got one thing to say to you, let's win no matter what." Diabel stated as he filled everyone up with courage. "Come on." He then opened the door and everyone followed him into the room.

It was dark, but at the end of the room, a big and fat jackal like creature with red glowing eyes and wearing armor with an axe and buckler at his side. And just like that, the entire room lit up and the words Illfang the Kobold Lord appeared in above of the monster like creature after it jumped down and 4 health bars appeared by his side. Ruin Kobold Sentinels then appeared in front of him, showing one health bar and maces at their sides.

"Commence attack!" Diabel yelled out as everyone charged and were ready to fight.

All the players were going head to head with the minions, not one of them breaking a sweat yet. "Squad's A and C, switch!" Diabel gave out a command as the boss was ready to attack. "Squad B, block!" He then yelled as the attack was successful knocked back. "C keep guarding and prepare to switch. Everyone else, once you fall back, regroup and flank them! Squad's D, E, and F keep those sentinels off us!" He continued until he reached Ash's group.

"You got it!" Kirito yelled.

"Roger that!" Ash said as he was ready.

Kirito blocked off two of them… "Switch!" Then the moment he said it, Ash and Asuna came running in.

Within seconds, the female player already took down the one she had. The boy threw one hit, then two hits, and the third hit took it down. "Nice work, you guys!" The other boy said to them as he was going head to head with one himself.

Illfang roared out, and it was because its health was already in the red on the last bar. As such, he threw both of the items in his hands out to the field, just like the guide book said. Ash saw this and thought they had a chance, and as he was thinking this he got into another fight with one of the minions.

"Stand back! I'll take care of this!" Diabel said as he just suddenly decided to run in.

'What? The plan was to surround it with the entire group, what is he doing?' The boy thought in his head.

As he was thinking this, he could've sworn he saw the man glance at his direction before he started charging up a sword skill. But when Illfang pulled out its final weapon, that's when Ash was afraid.

'Oh no.' "Diabel! That's not a Talwar, that's a No-Dachi!" He yelled over to him which made him look over.

"What are you talking about!?" He yelled back to him as Illfang jumped into the air.

"A No-Dachi is longer, it's gonna have more reach and do more damage!" The boy shouted out to him.

But by time Diabel realized the mistake he made, he was already slashed by the boss and then sent flying. "DIABEL!" Kiboau shouted as the boss jumped in front of them and roared.

"Diabel!" Ash and Kirito yelled as they ran to the fallen player's side.

"What the hell were you thinking going in alone?" Kirito asked him as he was about to give him a potion.

"No." Diabel said weakly rejecting it. "Y-you know… you were Beta-testers too, weren't you?" He asked them as they were shocked that he found out.

"… You were after the last attack bonus for the rare item, weren't you?" Kirito asked him. "Just like me, a Beta-tester."

Then Diabel began to form a weak smile. "I-I just can't do it anymore. I had such high hopes at first, but now, I don't think I can lead these people much longer. You must lead them now, show them… *coughs* show them this game *coughs*… this game can be beaten… Please… you have to be… beat the boss… for everyone here…" He said before his body shattered into fragments of data, and Kiboau watched all through it.

" _FAATTHERRRRR!"_

Ash got reminded of a tragedy that happened long ago, and as such tears were already forming in his eyes. "Ash…" Kirito said catching his attention. "Diabel never abandoned anyone in this game, bought them together, led everyone and fought brilliantly. Tried to accomplish something that even I couldn't." He got up and looked at him while holding out a hand. "Come on, let's finish this. For Diabel."

The boy looked at him for a little bit before wiping his tears and grabbing his hand. "For Diabel." He said as he was pulled up.

They looked at boss. It roared at everyone around it, and which their leader gone, they were all nervous and scared. As for the duo, they had the look of anger in their eyes. That's when Asuna came in.

"I'll go too." She said, gaining their attention.

"Okay, we'll all go together." Kirito said as they all charged in as a team. "Let's go like we did with the minions." He said to them.

Illfang was about to attack but Kirito managed to successfully block it. "Switch!" Then Asuna came in and was ready to land a blow, but the boss quickly recovered and was about to hit her until Ash blocked the attack.

Even though he blocked it, it still caused the girl's hood to get destroyed in the process. And as she turned, she jabbed her sword with a skill into him and hit him. When Kirito got a good look at her, he almost got distracted before realizing what he should be focusing on.

"He's coming back!" He yelled out as he got up and blocked again as Ash hit it with his skill.

It was about to attack again, which brought him to block and for Kirito to throw it off only for it to hit both of them and knock them into Asuna, sending them all to the ground. Ash got up and saw that his, Kirito's and Asuna's health bars were at half way before the boss towered over them. They thought it was over… Until Agil came in with his hammer and blocked the attack.

(Sword Art Online: Swordland)

"Go, go, go!" He shouted as everyone else began rallying into action so that they could kill this boss once and for all. "We can hold them off until you recover." He said to them.

"You got it, thanks." The black-haired boy thanked him.

Everyone was giving it their all, even though they were only stalling, they managed to hold off the boss for as long as they could. When Illfang jumped up in the air and was ready to attack, Kirito wasn't going to let that happen. He jumped up into the air and slashed at it which made it go flying downward.

"Ash, Asuna, we need one last attack! Let's do this!"

"Understood!" Ash yelled as he ran in with him.

"You got it!" Asuna said as she joined them.

Ash blocks, Asuna hits it, Kirito slashes at it. But he wasn't done yet, he screamed as he cut his sword straight through its whole body and cut it in half, before it shattered into data. After that, everyone stood in silence. As soon as the congratulations text popped up, they all exploded with cheer as text boxes appeared showing how much EXP and Col they earned.

Kirito was still on the ground panting after what he just did as the lights in the room went dim, in front of him was a text box saying: _You got the last attacking bonus!_ And another one appearing saying: _Coat of Midnight_. Which was the item Diabel was probably going for.

"Hey." Ash said while walking up to him. "Good work out there." He said as he knelt down and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Nice job." Asuna said while her and Agil walked over to them.

"That was some fine swordsmanship, congratulations. Today's victory is all thanks to you." The man then said to him as everyone began cheering again and this time lapping out compliments to the boy.

"He's right you know, you took down the boss and saved our butts." Ash then said giving him a thumbs up, which brought Kirito to smile.

"SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!" Kiboau shouted across the room as everyone went silent. "Why… why did you let Diabel die?" He asked in anger. "Admit it, you knew the technique the boss just used! You could've told us and Diabel would still be alive!" He yelled out as everyone started thinking about what he said.

"I know why he knows! He's a Beta-tester! Think about it, he knew all the attack patterns that thing used, he kept it from us! Hell, I bet he's not the only one, who else here is a Beta-tester!?" A random player yelled out.

Now, everyone was getting suspicious of each other, no one knew who to trust anymore and this wasn't good. "NAGH! YOU BASTARD!" Kiboau yelled out as he was about to charge at Kirito until he got held down.

"Hey, back off man! Whether he is or not he is, how could he have told you after you blamed Beta-testers yesterday for…" Ash was saying until he heard the sound of laughter.

What didn't make sense is that it was coming from Kirito. "So, you guess think I'm one of them? You think I'm in the same class as those noobs?" He then began saying as he got up and turned to everyone. "Most of those one thousand people who got to try the Beta were rookies, so stupid they didn't even know how level up. Even you guys are better than them." He suddenly said.

"Me? I'm not one of those idiots. During the Beta, I managed to get to Floor 8, something those insects couldn't get close to. I've fought more monsters on higher floors with more sword skills than you can count. Not even the info brokers have as much knowledge as me."

"… More than… Holy crap you're worse than a Beta-tester… A FUCKING CHEATER!" Kiboau shouted in pure rage, as everyone now hated Kirito and were yelling insults and other things at him, and Ash couldn't believe that Kirito would just up and say something like that.

"He's a Beta-tester and a cheater!" A player yelled out.

"No! He's a Beater!" Another one yelled as the boy turned to his comrade in disbelief.

"Beater, huh? Fine then, I'll go by your little Beater nickname for the time." Kirito said as everyone gasped at what he just said. "As long as you don't think of me as one of those losers, I could care less what you call me." He said as he materialized his Coat of Midnight.

He gave one last look at everyone before looking at Ash and saying… "I'm sure we'll meet again, when you get stronger at least." Then heading off.

Just as he was in the middle of the stairs, Asuna ran up to him and started a conversation. Ash couldn't hear what they were talking about, but if anything it was something that he couldn't get in between. Then as he watched his comrade open the door to the next floor, he saw both his and Asuna's names disappear from below his own.

"You're one of them too, aren't you?" Kiboau then said as he got everyone's attention again. "You're one those Beta-testers, isn't that right? That's why you tried to defend that Beater, and why you were the last person here he spoke to. You're a fucking a Beta-tester as well, admit it!" He yelled at the boy.

He didn't respond immediately. "… Diabel was one too." He said causing everyone to be flabbergasted at what he said. "And even if I was one, things change from Beta when the full game is released. The guide book said that Illfang used a Talwar because that's what it used in the Beta, but this is the full release, so his weapon was changed. So, not even our leader Diabel was able to tell… and he was a Beta-tester to." He said before he left on his way to the second floor.

One his way, he couldn't get the thought out of his head of what just happened. Why would Kirito act like this? What made him change in just instant? All this was confusing and making Ash's head hurt just thinking about it. But, if he were to meet Kirito again… would he even be the same person?

To be continued…

Yep, that's all. I decided to put in a little scene where Ash meets Silica because I want to get you guys ready for this. Tell you what, if no one is able to figure out who Ash's pairing is the chapter after the next, I'll reveal it to you guys, promise. And yes I used some lines from the abridged version. Even though it's not late by the time I upload this, I finished this at midnight over here, I did this for you guys.


	3. The Swordsmen and Tamer

Another chapter yes, I also skipped the episode with Sachi because… b-because… *sob*… b-because *starts tearing up*

MacKid: Hey, hey, it's okay, it's okay…

MarioKid: He skipped the Sachi episode because it's too sad for him. He'll feel better while we do the chapter, don't worry.

"Come on, Roselia! You never fight on the front lines, you don't need healing crystals!" Silica with a small light blue dragon on her head scolds a red-haired woman.

"Of course, I do, you're the popular one around here Silica, I can't expect the boys to help me out when I need it." The woman known as Roselia said to her as the glare on the little girl's face grew angrier.

"Oh, come on, it's not like that." One of the party members said to her.

"Screw this! I don't need you, I'm done teaming up with you! I'll form my own party and I'm sure there will be tons of people who would like to have me in one, and ones that're nicer than you!" The little twin-tailed girl then said before stomping away.

Chapter 3: The Swordsmen and Tamer

MacKid: And yes we changed it, because the only time the Black Swordsmen is mentioned is when the scene where the guys attack Kirito starts. Anyway.

Silica was having trouble as of now, she was in the field during the night surrounded by monsters called Drunk Apes and her health just below halfway with only the little blue dragon to accompany her. She jumped away from one of the monsters trying to slam its club at her, only to have to dodge another one coming at her again.

The little dragon blew its breath on her and it seemed to heal her, but it didn't even bring her to halfway. She reached in for a crystal, only to find she didn't have anymore left. She was then struck by one of them and sent flying at a tree, her health was now in the red. She looked around for a way to escape but she was surrounded, and it seemed there was no hope for her.

Then just as she was about to be finished off, the little dragon came in and took the hit getting sent flying to the ground. "Pina!" Silica cried out to her little friend as she crawled over to her. Its health plummeted, then it began to glow. "Pina, Pina no! Don't leave me! Pina!" She yelled as he held onto it hoping it would do something, but the dragon burst into little fragments of data leaving one feather behind.

The monsters then surrounded her again. One raised its club, Silica turned around with tears in her eyes and just when she thought it was all over, the apes suddenly burst into data as well. And right where they were standing, was Ash.

But now, he was wearing a light blue coat with sleeves that reached his elbows and black wrist long sleeves emerging from underneath them. Underneath his coat was a turquoise colored shirt that he was wearing, along with your usual pants and shoes and black fingerless gloves. And attach to him was also a different sword that was longer.

She wanted to thank him… but she couldn't take her mind off of her little friend as she picked up its feather, then began to tear up. Ash saw this and got worried as he made his way over to her to see if she was okay. "Silica are you…" Then his eyes laid on the feather itself. "What's that?" He asked.

"It's Pina… my best friend…" She said still sobbing.

"Mmm, you became a Beast Tamer, huh?" He asked again. "I'm sorry, I couldn't save your friend."

"No… It's all my fault… I was stupid to think I could make it threw the forest on my own." She muttered. "T-thank you… for saving me." She said to him.

"Hold on, check the feather for an item name." He asked her as she was confused.

She did what he said and checked as the name; _Pina's Heart_ , appeared above it. It didn't do anything to help though, she just continued to sob while holding the feather close.

"S-Silica, don't cry. If that's Pina's Heart, then we can revive it." He said to her with his hand on her back as she stopped.

"R-really." She asked him as he nodded.

"On the south side of Floor 47, there's a field dungeon called the Hill of Memories. I heard that somewhere, a flower growing at the top is an item that can revive familiars." He explained.

She then smiled, only for it to fade after figuring out that it was on a high floor that she couldn't reach at her level. "Sorry, I wanted to I could go for you but it only blooms for Beast Tamers." He then said to her.

"Thank you so much for telling me. If I work hard and raise my level in a few days I could…" Silica began to say.

"No, you only have three days to revive your friend." He said cutting her off, making her gasp.

"N-no…" She said in deep sorrow and sadness. "… It's all my fault…"

"It's okay." Ash said as he got up then opened his menu and went through his item list. "I got this equipment from a few quests, it should help you boost five or six more levels. I'll come to, so I can help." He said as he began setting up a trade request to give her a few items.

The Ebon Dagger, Silver Thread Armor, Moon Blazer, Fairy Boots and Florit Belt. "W-why would you do all this, Ash?" She asked as he looked back at her.

"Why? Because, you're my friend Silica. I'd never turn my back on a friend that needs help more then anything, and I'm not planning on doing it now." He said to her.

She stared at for a few minutes before looking down while blushing. "T-thank you…" She then said as she attempted to trade some Col. "I know this might not be enough but…"

"No need." He said to her as she stopped. "I don't help my friends just so I can get something in return, so don't worry about it." He said to her as he held his hand out.

She looked at him for a minute before smiling and taking it. Afterwards they headed to Mishe, which was a town on the floor they were on… Oh right, they're on Floor 35, forgot to tell you. They were walking together through town, until they were stopped.

"Hey, it's Silica!" A voice shouted over as they looked to see two men running over.

"It took you a long time, we were worried." The tubby one said.

"Hey, you wanna start a party with us?" The skinny one asked.

"Uh, well, actually, um…" Silica said nervously as she looked at Ash, then at his arm. "I'm already in a party with him, so I can't." She said as she grabbed it.

They then looked over at him jealous which made him feel a little uncomfortable, Silica then said bye before they walked off. "Fans of yours?" He asked joking.

"No, nothing like that. They just want me to be their mascot." She told him as she then began to think of Pina.

Then she let go and seemed as though she was about to cry again. "H-hey, don't worry. We'll make it, I promise." He said as he patted her on the head.

She then smiled again and wiped a tear from her face as they continued walking. "Hey Ash, do you live around here?" She asked him.

"Oh, on Floor 42. I have gone to higher floors but, sometimes I like to revisit the other floors from time to time. I could just get one down here for the night." He told her.

"Okay, I'll take you out for some cheesecake. It's delicious." She then said until someone familiar popped in.

"Silica? Oh my gosh, how are you?" Rosalina just suddenly said as she came walking over. "Wow, you made it out alive, good for you." She then said to her as Silica looked away.

"You okay?" Ash asked.

"Uh, I'm fine." She muttered.

"And where's your little dragon friend?" Rosalina then said in a charming voice.

"Pina, died. But I will get her back, no matter what!" The little girl then said to her.

"Oh, really? You know you can't reach Floor 47, with your level you won't last." The woman said which made her look down.

"Yes, she will. Leveling is more easy than you think." Ash said as he stepped in front of her.

"… Well look at that, she managed to seduce a cutie over here. You still don't look anything strong enough." She tried to counter.

"You'll see. C'mon, Silica." He said as they continued on until they were in a restaurant.

"Why does she have to be so mean?" Silica asked after they ordered.

"This is your first time playing an MMO isn't it?" Ash asked as she nodded. "Well, whenever someone does play online, their personality is usually different. Especially, when someone plays as the villain." He explained to her. "See how our player cursors are green?" He asked while pointing up to his own. "Once you commit a crime against another player, the cursor will turn orange, it'll be like that for a few days. But if you kill another green player, you turn red, meaning you'd be a murderer." After hearing that the girl flinched.

"M-murderer… no way." She said shocked.

"If it was a normal RPG it's cool and everything, but this Sword Art Online and people do die in real life." After he told her this, she felt nervous. "This world is not a game, and there is nothing to gain in killing." After that, he saw her expression and realized how much he was saying. "Sorry, I'm saying a little too much."

"Well, you know what? You're good to me, Ash! You saved and helped me, that makes you good." She said as she reached across the table and took ahold of his hands.

"Thanks, Silica." He said to her.

Then after seeing his smile, her face turned red and she sat back while flailing her arms. "Hey, where on Earth is our cheesecake? Excuse me!" She then said trying to take her mind off of what she did while Ash looked confused.

(At an Inn)

Ash was walking down the halls to Silica's room, since the Hill of Memories was on a high floor and because he was only there once and because Silica was low level, they needed to work something out. "Hey, Silica, you still awake?" He asked after knocking. "I forgot to say some other things about the floor we're going to, unless you want to wait until tomorrow."

"N-no, now's fine. I was just thinking about aski…" Her voice came from the other side then stopped.

"Huh? Silica is everything alright?" He asked.

She didn't respond immediately, it was silent for a second before she answered. "You can come in now." She told him as he opened the door.

She was on her bed in her sleeping wear with a blush on her face as Ash pulled over a table and chair, then he saw her face. "Are you feeling okay?" He asked.

"It's nothing, I'm okay." She said to him as he pulled out an item. "What's that?"

"Something called a Mirage Sphere. You can view a floor's map on this." He said as he activated it showing a hologram like projection of Floor 47.

"Wow, pretty." Silica said amazed.

"See, this is the town area of the floor we're heading to. This is the Hill of Memories." Ash said as he pointed towards and zoomed in on parts of the map. "If we could take this route, we should be…" He was saying until he got caught off by someone yelling on the other side.

"Hey, stop! Get back here!" A familiar voice shouted as Ash went to go see what the commotion was about.

He opened the door then spotted someone rushing down the stairs, however he couldn't get a good look at them before they were out of sight. "W-what was that?" Silica asked nervous.

"It has to have been someone eavesdropping." He said.

"But, unless you knock you can't hear through a door." She said to him.

"Yeah, but if you have a high listening skill, it's possible to do so. It's something you need to practice for it to work." He told her.

"But why would they want to listen to us?"

With that question, Ash looked at the door and instantly, he had a bad feeling about this whole thing.

(The Next day)

Floor 47: Floria

Ash and Silica just teleported from the gate, and in just seconds the little girl had a big smile on her face. It was a beautiful flower garden scenery. "Wow, this place is like a dream!" She said in an excited tone.

"I know, right? This whole floor is covered in flowers. Which is how it got its name, the flower garden" He said as she ran over to smell the flowers.

And when she looked up, she saw that the entire place was filled with couples. A boy with a girl, a girl with a boy. As she watched she realized that she was with a boy right now. Her face instantly heated up.

"Silica?" Ash's voice rang out as she flinched before standing back up.

"Nothing! Sorry to keep you waiting." She then said as she pretended to dust off her clothes.

"You sure you're feeling okay?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm okay, I'm okay." She then said as she pretended to fix her hair.

"Alright, come on let's go." He said as he began to walk off.

"Uh… yeah." She said as she returned to normal and followed him.

"Oh, before we go, you gonna need this." Ash said as they stopped.

"What's this?" She asked confused.

"A Teleport Crystal you're able to go anywhere with it. Should anything bad happens, use this go somewhere safe." He explained.

"But."

"Don't worry, I'll go and find you." He told her with a smile.

"…Okay." She said as she took the crystal.

"Okay, now we can be off. This path will lead us right to the hill of memories." He said as they crossed a bridge.

"Um, Ash…" Silica was about to say before she got grabbed by tentacles and forced into the air.

When she saw the monster open its mouth, she screamed. "Calm down! It's not hard to beat that thing!" Ash yelled up to her.

"Ash help me! But don't look! Save me but don't look!" She began screaming out as she held her skirt.

"Uh, I don't know if that's gonna work." The boy said as he covered his eyes.

"Dang it, put me down!" She yelled as she grabbed the the tentacles and sliced them off, then as she fell she activated a sword skill and took it down as it shattered into data and she landed. When she did, she looked back at Ash with an embarrassed expression. "Did you… see anything?" She asked nervously.

Ash just kept his eyes closed and said… "No…"

As they continued through the field they began to talk to each other about some things.

"Ash, I hope you don't mind me asking, but do you have any siblings?"

"Why's that?"

"Just curious, I know it's not polite to ask about things in the real world but, do you have any?"

"Well, I did have a brother but… he's not with us anymore."

"… What happened?"

"… His name was Red, my older brother. He was a fun guy who cared about me a lot, took care of me and he was about to get into college… but he died in accident when I was 3."

"O-oh… I'm sorry." Silica said with a sad face.

"Don't be. I'll see him soon… maybe." Ash said as a tear rolled down his face. "I guess that's also why I'm helping, to be the big the brother that mine was."

Silica saw this and was sad after hearing what he said. "Hey, don't worry." She said as she walked in front of him. "You said he cared about you, right? I'm sure if he was still here, he'd be proud of you right now." She said cheering him up.

"Thanks. You know, I'm trying to make you feel better and it's just the other way around today, isn't it?" He asked with a chuckle.

She then blushed again, and immediately changed the subject. "Okay, let's go save Pina." She said as she marched forward.

Ash could only smile at what she's doing, so kind and sweet that it made him forget most of the stuff that's happened in the game so far. Even in the dark, there's always a light to cheer you up. And so they continued on the path, fighting monsters, and etc. Then they stopped at a garden like field.

"Is this where flower is?" Silica asked.

"Of course, just up ahead." Ash said pointing forward.

At the end of the path was a shrine. They walked up to it and it began to glow, then a pure white and beautiful flower sprouted from the center, releasing a powerful light. The little girl took ahold of it and the bottom of it disappeared before a text box saying _Pneuma Flower_ appeared in front of her.

"Wow, this will bring Pina back to life?" She asked.

"Of course, but now's not the time. This place is filled with monsters after all." He told her as she nodded agreeing with him.

On their way back, they stopped in the middle of the bridge when they spotted someone. To Silica, it wasn't anyone she was familiar with, but to Ash, it was a face he knew all too well.

"Long time no see." Kirito said as he seemed to be organizing his items.

"It has." He replied back which confused the little girl.

"Wait, you two know each other?" She asked.

"We met during the boss raid on the first floor on Aincrad, his name is Kirito. We were on a team of 3, but we disbanded after we were done." He explained to her.

"Really?" She asked.

Then Kirito began to walk in front of them, which brought Ash to be ready to pull his weapon out in case he really has changed. But when he looked at his cursor, it was still green. "Whoever's hiding out there come out! Now!" He yelled out in front of them, which confused them… until they saw 'her' walk out.

"Rosalia?" Silica said nervous.

"Your detection skill must be quite high, since you found out where my hiding spot was." She stated. "Oh, you found the Pneuma Flower, congrats. Now hand it over, or someone's gonna get hurt." She threatened them.

"W-what?" The little girl said shocked.

"That an't happening. No one's giving anything to you or the whatever guild your in." Ash said ready to pull out his sword.

"That's right Rosalia. Or should I say the leader of Titan's Hand?" Kirito said surprising the others.

"Oh, really?" The woman said with interest.

"But, she's got a green cursor." Silica said confused.

"No, that doesn't mean they're good. The green members grab targets then lure them to the red players." Ash told her, then he realized something. "Wait, did you go chasing one of her members last night?" He asked as the other boy nodded.

"Then, that party you had me in was to…" She then began to put the pieces together.

"Observe their strength, while earning all that sweet money." Rosalia said as she licked her lips. "You were who I was excited about and when you left I was sad that my prey decided to leave, then you said you were going after a rare item. What I wanna know is if you knew about us, why did you let these two even come here instead of telling them? You dumb or something?" She asked.

"Nothing like that, I was looking for you." Kirito told her.

"I beg your pardon?" She asked him.

"Ten days ago, you attacked a guild Silver Flags. Everyone was slaughtered except the leader. They're leader went back and forth from warp-point to front lines, morning till night, tearfully begging for someone to avenge his guild. He never wanted you dead though, he wanted you to suffer in prison. You probably don't even understand how he felt, did you?" He asked her with anger.

"Can't say that I do. Only idiots act like this is real, dying here doesn't kill you for real. Now I ask that you hand over the Pneuma Flower, right now." She demanded.

"Please, whatever little tricks you got up your sleeve won't work." Ash said as he was ready for a battle.

"Indeed, but a magician is nothing without her lovely assistants." She said as she snapped her fingers and many, many different players popped up behind her. Red and orange cursors above them.

"Silica, stay behind me. Get the crystal ready." He said as he got in front of her.

"Don't worry, stay here." Kirito then said as he began walking forward.

"Kirito, what are you doing?" Ash said as he thought he was crazy.

"Uh, boss, a-a thought occurs. This guy knows about us, but he still let those two come here. Are you sure we wanna mess with him?" A random man from her group asked.

"Please, the boy's all talk and no game. There's no reason we should give this a second thought." Rosalia laughed.

"Okay, tell you what? I'll give you the first shot." Kirito said to them.

"Boss, I think this might be a trap." Another one of her man said.

"Enough, you're all level 45 and there's seven of you, I'm pretty sure you got this. Now, go kill him and take everything from him." She commanded as they readied their skills and charged at him.

They were attacking him left and right but he was just standing there doing nothing. 'What is doing, is he insane? He's gonna die.' Ash thought as he had his hand on his sword ready to go in and help but something caught his eye. It seemed as though Kirito's health was going down it rose back up. "What the hell?" He said confused.

Everyone eventually gave up, exhausted and breathing heavily. "What the hell you idiots! Quit screwing around and finish him!" Rosalia shouted angry.

"400 hundred in 10 seconds, give or take. That's the total of damage you can inflict on me." Kirito said as the red-head growled. "I'm level 78 with 14,500 and my battle-healing skill auto-regenerates 600 bits of my health every 10 seconds. You won't get anywhere even if it takes all day." He told them.

"That's in no way possible." One of her men said.

"Wanna bet? High numbers will give you a ridiculous advantage, that's why MMO's leveling system can be unfair." He explained as the woman growled again while he took a warp crystal out of his coat. "My client spent everything he had to give me this. Set to send you to the prison area, that's where all you bastards are going." He said as some of them flinched.

Ash couldn't believe what he was doing, he was starting to think he was wrong to judge Kirito like that. "Well I'm green, you can't touch me as much as I'm con…" Rosalia was saying until she had the boy's sword to her neck within seconds.

"I'm a solo player, got it? I don't give a shit if I'm gonna have to play orange for the next few days" He said to her as she dropped her spear.

(That evening)

Kirito was standing outside of a room that Ash and Silica were in. "I'm sorry you guys, I kinda used you to as bait to catch those guys. I thought if I told you the truth you would think less of me." He said to them.

"Kirito… you took down a guild all for the sake of a person who lost their friends to them, there's no reason for me to think that way at all about you." Ash told him as he smiled after hearing that.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around then." He said.

"Yeah, same." He said as they shook hands and the black wearer took his leave.

"You not scared of the guy, right?" Ash then asked Silica.

"I could never be scared of someone who saved me, like you." She said which made him smile. "Um, do you really have to go?" She asked.

"Yeah, sorry, I can't really stay much longer. I need to get going." He said to her.

"Yeah, I understand…" She didn't really, but she didn't want him to feel down.

"Before you say anything, levels are nothing more than numbers. The strength of a person here, isn't the same in the real world. It feels nice, but there are more things that are important. So, maybe we can meet up in the real world at some point, so we can be friends there too." He said to her which brightened her smile up.

"We will, I promise." She then said.

"Okay, let's get to reviving Pina." He then said as they got up.

"Yeah."

Silica then opened her items and found Pina's Heart, then she took the Pneuma Flower and got prepared for one final thing to do…

Silica: Pina, when you get back I'll have lots of stuff to tell you about… The amazing adventure I had… and about the one day in my life… I had a big brother…

To be continued…

Yeah, I know you probably got the feeling the entire time that it's gonna be Silica, but her relationship with Ash is going to be a big-brother-little-sister-relationship. Yes, used some of the abridged lines for this, but it's still gonna be based off the original… even though I'm changing things here and there.  
The pairing is gonna Ash and Suguha/Leafa or in this case, Alfiemshipping.

Omake #1: MacKid's loud mouth

"Silica? Oh my gosh, how are you?" Rosalina just suddenly said as she came walking over. "Wow, you made it out alive, good for you." She then said to her as Silica looked away.

"You okay?" Ash asked.

"Uh, I'm fine." She muttered.

"And where's your lit…

MacKid: FUCKING SHIT! SPIDER, SPIDER IN THE HOUSE!

MarioKid: Are you serious right now? You just ru… I'm sorry, please ignore him I gotta take care of something.

Omake #2: Abridged version

On their way back, they stopped in the middle of the bridge when they spotted someone. To Silica, it wasn't anyone she was familiar with, but to Ash, it was a face he knew all too well.

"Oh, no…" He said.

"Huh? Oh, hey what up, Ass?" Kirito said to him as he looked over at them.

"Wait, do you know him." Silica asked.

"Yep, Silica this is Dickweed. Dickweed, Silica." Ash said introducing his… 'comrade' to his friend.


	4. Safe Zone Murder, Avenger Illusion

Okay, we're gonna start this off with reading a review. Let's see here…

From EMIYASatosiKetchum3457 on CH3: Why not just make it an Ash X Sugu X Silica Pairing. That'll be cool too.

Okay, okay, let me get something straight here. This is the first pairing SAO/Pokémon Fanfiction that was ever made and I want it to be one character pairing only, and I'm not into love triangles. But why are you doing a harem fanfiction with Digimon Pokémon and RWBY? That's different!

Firstly, that's a one thing that's happening and is the only fanfiction that's gonna have a harem. Secondly, it is a good thought don't get me wrong, but I want this story to be a one person pairing story, not a love triangle.

I don't want to take away Kirito's harem and give it to Ash, that's not how my story's gonna work. But, there are good characters that would make good pairings for Ash in this show, so I make the girls that Kirito didn't pick feel more for him in this not because I'm giving Kirito's harem to Ash, but because this shows that Ash can be paired with any girl especially the ones in this show.

Wow, I say his name way too many times. Also, I know my page says that for Davis too but there is only so much fanfictions I made to prove that. It is kinda unfair for Davis, so I need to get him in the game somehow. Anyway, back to the story.

Right now, Ash was just wandering the streets on a random floor, which one, he couldn't remember but it probably wasn't important to know. While he was wandering around, he saw one of the buildings had a sign hanging from the front of the door. _Lisbeth's Blacksmith Shop_ was what it read.

He thought about it for a second and took out his blade to take a look at it, it did look like it could use a checkup, especially after everything it went through. He headed inside, but there appeared to be no one there. He decided to look around since there were swords on display, he was wondering if he should replace his sword rather than get it fixed, but he thought that the one he had now could still last.

Then he heard the door next to the counter open and saw a pink haired girl walk out. "Welcome to Lizbeth's Blacksmith Shop!" She said greeting her customer, he guessed that she must Lizbeth herself.

"Oh, hey, I was wondering if I could get some work done on my sword?" He said as he walked over to the counter.

"What kind of work?" She asked.

"Well, nothing much, my blade's just worn out a little." He explained as he handed it to her.

"Hmm, okay let me have a look." She said as she took the sword and appraised it. "A Queen's Knightsword, I'm sure I did one of these before. Okay, let me see what I can do." She said as she went downstairs.

It was only about a minute or two until Lizbeth came out with sword in hand. "Alright, all done. So, what do you think?" She asked as she showed him the sword.

It looked better and in a good condition now. "Looks great, thanks." He said as he took the sword back.

"No problem. I fixed up your sword, now I need some payment." She stated.

"Uh… Oh, right." Ash then gave her the money he owned her and was ready to go.

"Thanks, bye." He said as he left.

"Come back anytime." She said before he walked out the door. 'What a nice guy.' She thought to herself as she went back downstairs.

Chapter 4: Murder in the Safe Zone

 **April 11, 2024 Floor 59: Danac**

Ash wandering around the fields heading to the next town and who did he just happen to spot? The black-haired edgy, and the orange-haired woman laying next to him on the grass sleeping. He wondered what they were doing and why they were sleeping next to each other, but when he figured they were taking it easy after he heard about them being a part of the Assault Team.

He felt relaxed himself, the breeze flowing past him, the warm light of the sun making contact with him, today was probably Aincrad's nicest season. It was something that he could rest to as well. He thought that maybe he could lay down somewhere too, so he laid on the other side of the trail to give the 'couple' some space. Then he let dreamland take him away.

(Dream)

Ash woke up and looked around, he wasn't on Floor 59 anymore, but instead it was… well he didn't know what it was, but for some reason he felt like he'd been there before. He looked around, it looked like a town, but it wasn't one he recognized. Then he looked at one house particular to him.

Then he looked over at the center of the town and saw a boy that looked like he was playing with a yellow mouse like creature. It wasn't just any boy though, it was… him? A young ten-year-old looking version of himself playing with the yellow mouse. This had to be dream right?

Then suddenly everything began shine white and blinded him.

(Aincrad)

His eyes wiped open, it was just a dream. He's been having weird dreams like that for a while, but this was new to him. The sun was setting, he seemed have rested for a while. When he looked over, he saw Kirito sitting on a small stone wall while Asuna was still sleeping. Should he go see them? Naw, maybe after they're both awake. Instead of wanting to wait, he felt hungry, so he went ahead to the next town and thought that maybe he could wait for them there.

 **Floor 57: Martin**

He decided to go to the restaurant in town and was there for about twelve minutes or so. Just before his food arrived, he saw the dynamic duo themselves walk in. They best he do was say hi to Kirito before he said hi back then the two went to their table while Ash decided to start eating his own food.

While he was eating he could see everyone staring at them saying things like 'That's Asuna of the Knights of the Blood Oath.' or 'Who's the shady looking guy dressed in black?' or other stuff about them. He was intrigued a little since he knew they were a part of the Assault Team, but he didn't think they'd be this big of a deal.

When he looked over, he saw Asuna blushing. Was it something Kirito said, or did have to do with what they were talking about? He didn't know, but there seemed to be a thing between them for some reason. Then they heard the sound of a woman shriek, and with that they all rushed outside.

Just in the center of town, there was a player hanging from the bell tower with a sword through his chest. Everyone was freaked out and confused at the same that, some more freaked out than others. This didn't make any sense; how did he get a sword through his chest in a safe zone?

"Hey, pull it out!" Kirito yelled up to him.

The player slowly looked over to him in agony, he was unable to remove the sword from his chest. "Dammit, someone's got to get him down." Ash said freaked out.

"Get ready to catch him, I'm gonna cut him down." Asuna told them as they did what she said.

"Help's on the way!" Kirito shouted up to the player.

"Try to stay calm!" Ash then yelled up to him.

But then, he shattered into data before they even got a chance to get to him, the sword dropping to the ground and the rope just hanging there. Everyone then freaked out and screamed at what they just saw happen. But that didn't make sense, unless he was in a duel he couldn't have…

"Everyone, look for a 'duel winner' icon!" Kirito shouted over to them. "Damn, this doesn't make any sense." He muttered.

"Kirito, Ash, the room up here is empty!" Asuna yelled down to them.

The two on ground level looked around for the icon that said someone won a duel, but there was no sign of one at all which didn't make any sense. Kirito grabbed the sword then ran upstairs to Asuna, but for Ash, he was still confused and shocked.

"Everyone, you can't die in a safe zone! What you just saw die was probably an NPC, unless this was a duel there's no way to die here!" He yelled to the crowd of people.

After hearing what he just said, the people gave it some thought. He was making sense since only NPCs seemed killable in safe zones, and they could respawn, so it wouldn't be a big deal. Plus, it couldn't be a duel since there's no winner icon anywhere so it couldn't have been a PK(Player Kill) duel. But one of them walked up to him, a young girl with velvet hair and freckles.

"W-who are you?" He asked her.

"Um… my name is Yolko… and I knew him." She said in a shaky voice. "The two of us were in the same guild, his name was Kains. We were gonna have dinner, but we got separated and… oh…" She then started to tear up as she walked into his arms.

"Was there anyone else up there with him?" He asked as he tried to comfort her.

"I… I'm not sure, but I think I did… see someone behind him…" She said as tears still fell from her eyes.

Then he saw Kirito and Asuna walk out. "Hey guys, come over here!" He called over to them.

(Later at a hotel)

"Thank you for walking me back, sorry if it's out of your way." Yolko said to them.

"No worries, but we'd like to talk to you again tomorrow if you're feeling up to it." Asuna said to her.

"O-okay." she then said before bowing and closing the door.

"Listen, I know this sounds sudden and it's been awhile since the three of us have seen each other, but we're gonna have to work together until we solve this thing. Until we do, no rest until then." Asuna then said as she put her hand out.

"Yeah, but you were the one napping." Kirito said as he put his hand on hers, only for her to grab his then twist it. "OW!"

Ash didn't know what to think, he hasn't seen Kirito or Asuna in a long time and now they're all getting together to solve a murder mystery. "Guess we got no other choice." He said as he put his hand where theirs were.

"So, what's the plan?" The black-haired boy asked.

"Well, I guess review the only solid clue we have. Maybe if we find out who owned that spear, it might lead us to the killer." The orange haired girl stated.

"We'll need someone with a good appraisal skill. You guys have one, right?" The spiked hair boy asked.

"Nope." Asuna replied.

"Sorry." Kirito then said.

"By the way, it's just Asuna." She then said to them.

"But back to the appraisal skill. You two know anyone who does have a skill like that?" He asked them.

"I have a friend, but she is really busy, so I don't think she has the time." The girl explained.

"I think I met someone on one of the lower floors earlier, but I don't think we're be going to their place this late." Ash told them.

"Well, I do know an item merchant that could help us." The black-haired boy stated.

 **Floor 50: Algade**

They were heading through town to Kirito's friend's shop when someone walked out with a bored expression. This better be good Ash thought as his friend walked in and to his surprise, he saw Agil. He hasn't seen him since the blaming of Kiboau, it seemed strange he'd be an item merchant. When the man saw him and Asuna, he grabbed Kirito then pulled him behind the counter.

"What the hell's gotten into you? You're supposed to be a solo player man, what're you doing hanging around with Ash and Asuna? I thought you and she hated each other." Agil whispered as the two who weren't pulled behind the counter just laughed awkwardly.

(After an explanation and in the room he had)

"His HP dropped to zero in a safe zone? And it wasn't a duel?" Agil asked them.

"No one saw a winner icon, it couldn't be a duel." Kirito explained.

"It wasn't a sleep PK ether, he was with Yolko before it happened." Asuna then told him.

"This death couldn't just be some kind of duel ether, the murder had to have this planned from the start otherwise he wouldn't do in public. And now there's this sword." Ash stated.

Agil picked up the sword then appraised it, not a minute or two before he got something. "This is player-made." He stated which shocked them. "Grimlock… that's a new name. Not a top blacksmith, and nothing really special about this sword." He said, which made no sense to them.

"But, it's still a clue." Asuna stated.

"It should have an item name, what is it?" Kirito asked

"Guilty Thorn, in other words 'thorn of sin'." Agil explained before handing the sword back to him.

"Really?" He wondered as he looked over it. He then switched his grip on the handle and was about to stab his arm until Ash and Asuna grabbed it and stopped him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Ash asked angry.

"Are you out of your mind!? This thing's already killed someone, you can't act reckless like that." Asuna said as she took It from him. "Here, Agil. Take this." She said as she handed the man the sword.

The next day was dreary one, they met up with Yolko in the restaurant to talk. It was strange because it was just the four in the restaurant and no one else, that wasn't odd though, seeing how dreary it was outside as rain began to fall.

"So, uh, Yolko… We, uh, were wondering if you heard about a player known as Grimlock?" Asuna asked as she flinched at the name.

"Yes, I have. He was in a guild with me and Kains." She told them, which seemed off to them.

"Look, we got the item to an appraisal and he said that Grimlock was its creator." Kirito stated as Yolko became shocked after hearing about the item.

"Listen, if Grimlock did do this, why would he?" Ash then asked.

"Well… I didn't tell you everything yesterday, it's something I just wanted to forget but no matter how hard I try I'll always remember… guess I have no choice to tell..." She then said to them. "How my guild was destroyed." She said as she was about to explain.

(Yolko's P.O.V.)

When we formed it, our name was Golden Apple. Six months ago, we killed a rare monster and it dropped a power ring that would raise a player's agility by 20. Some of us wanted to keep it for the guild, other's thought we should sell it and split the money from it. But we weren't able to agree so we put it to a vote.

5-3, we decided we were gonna sell it. Our leader, Griselda, took it to a large town on the front lines. She was gonna sell it to a broker and was gonna stay overnight… but she never returned.

(Viewer P.O.V.)

Yolko just finished telling her story. "It wasn't until later when we learned about Griselda's death. To this day, no one knows how she died." She stated.

"No one's gonna leave a safe zone with a rare item like that, it's too risky. You think it could've been a sleep PK-er?" Kirito asked his friends.

"If it was six months the message would have already spread, plus that method was said to be new." Asuna stated.

"She couldn't have been a random ether; the killer was probably after the ring. So, they had to know that she had an item like that, so they'd have to be..." Ash stated.

"One of the other seven members of Golden Apple." Yolko then said.

"Okay, we have our suspects. We just need to figure out who of the three that wanted to keep it did this." Kirito said to them.

"They wouldn't have done this after she sold it though, she was killed before she got the chance." Asuna stated.

"Yeah, that's probably the best we've got." He then looked back at Yolko. "Tell us what you know about Grimlock."

"Well, for starters, he was Griselda's husband. Not in real life yet, just in the game." The young girl was ready for an explanation. "Griselda was a powerful swordswoman. Beautiful and smart… Grimlock was kind and I don't remember a day when he wasn't smiling. They were a great couple and they got along as husband and wife, and if he was the one that murdered Kains… he's probably going after the other two that voted to against sell the ring. I was one along with Kains." She then finished which made the three flabbergasted.

"Wait, who's the third one then?" Ash asked her.

"A tank named Schmitt. I've heard he's on the front lines right now with the Holy Dragon Alliance." She told them.

"Schmitt, huh? Where have I heard that name before?" Kirito stated in thought.

"He's leader of the defense unit to the Holy Dragon Alliance. An exceptional lancer." Asuna stated.

"Oh, yeah. Him." He then started to remember.

"Wait, do you really know him?" Yolko asked.

"Well, I ran into him a couple of times when I was clearing bosses." He explained.

"I need to see him, could you please take me to him. If he's on the front lines he probably hasn't heard of the murder. He needs to know, before what happened to Kains happens to him." She told them.

"We'll help you get in touch with Schmitt. I know someone in the Holy Dragon Alliance, if we go to their HQ, he should help us." Asuna explained.

"Okay, first thing's first, we need to get her back to the Inn." Kirito then said to them.

"Yolko, you have to stay there, don't go anywhere until we get back." Ash said to her as she just nodded.

(Later)

The three were walking through Martin on their way to the Holy Dragon Alliance's HQ, discussing the mystery along the way. "How do you think a murder like this could happen in a safe-zone?" Asuna asked.

"Only three ways it could: First is that it could've been a fair duel, unless someone was using a bug and combined some kill methods." Kirito explained.

"Sounds like it could be possible. What's the third?" Ash asked.

"Used something to bypass the protection of the safe-zone, a skill or item… actually that has to be impossible." He explained.

"What do you mean?" Asuna asked.

"That would just be unfair. Hate to admit it, but it's true. For every player in the SAO's rules are supposed to be fair. So, they wouldn't allow some murders to just wander safe-zones." He explained to them.

(Back at the Inn)

They brought back Schmitt and explained the whole thing to him. "That's what killed Kains, and you're sure that this spear belonged to Grimlock?" He asked as Yolko nodded.

"No doubt." She explained as he flinched.

"Why would he just wait six months to kill him? Unless… you don't think he…?" He asked freaked out. "Does Grimlock blame us for this?" He then asked.

"Maybe he made the spear for someone else in our guild, and they could be the one that killed Kains. Or… Griselda's come back to get her revenge." She then began to start sounding crazy. "A player cannot kill another player in a safe-zone, but a ghost doesn't follow rules."

That through everyone off and annoyed Ash a little bit. "I couldn't sleep at all last night, so I stayed up thinking. It was everyone's fault, everyone in the guild is to blame, her fate was sealed the moment that ring dropped, we shouldn't have voted against her!" She then freaked out and started screaming things out like a lunatic, then she started walking backwards.

"It was all our fault… Grimlock was the only one of the guild who said we should leave it to her decision, and is the only one of us that can avenge her." She then finished.

"And you're okay with this? I don't know about you, but I have a duty to my alliance to survive this game!" Schmitt said as he got up from his chair.

"Calm down, this is insane. There's no such thing as a ghost or people rising from the dead, secondly there's no way some ghost could just be able to kill people in a game like that." He told them annoyed.

Then a large stabbing sound echoed through air as Yolko flinched, they all then were shocked as she turned around revealing a dagger in her back before falling out the window while Ash was unable to stop her. She then fell and shattered into data.

Whoa-ho hold on there, we're done yet. We're gonna now read a review while I prepare the next episode.

From zenotai123 on CH2: awesome chapter man, real nice and the lines from the abridged was nice too

Thank you. There's gonna be more abridged lines in this series. I know it's based off the original, but some of the abridged version just seems better.

Then a large stabbing sound echoed through air as Yolko flinched, they all then were shocked as she turned around revealing a dagger in her back before falling out the window while Ash was unable to stop her. She then fell and shattered into data.

Ash and Kirito then looked up and saw a person wearing a cloak just on one of the buildings, eyes on the perp. "Ash, wait!" Kirito said as he jumped out of the window to go after him. "I'm going with him, keep an eye on Schmitt." He said as he then jumped out the window.

"No, wait!" Asuna then yelled as he landed on one of the buildings.

The two were chasing after the killer, jumping rooftop to rooftop. They looked like they were gonna pull out a weapon and as such the duo got ready to pull out theirs, but then they saw it was a teleport crystal. Where were they going, what were they planning to do? Kirito threw some darts at them but before they made contact, they had already teleported, bringing the two to a stop.

Chapter 5: Illusionary Avenger

"What now?" Kirito asked as they just lost their only suspect.

"Go back to Asuna and Schmitt, I need to speak with some Info Broker." Ash stated.

"Wait, how do you know if they're gonna help?"

"I don't, but at least they should have some information that'll give us a hint." He then jumped down one of the buildings and made his way to a certain place.

In an alleyway in a certain part of town, Ash sat on one of the benches while he was talking to a certain info breaker. "That's all, huh?" He asked as they seemed to be finished.

"Yep, nothing more, nothing less. Pay up." She then said as she held her hand out.

He payed for the information he was given, he knew that there was no way for a player to die in a safe-zone. Later on, he tested out if the information was true and was surprised of the result. Then he went to go find Kirito and Asuna, who seemed to be in the middle of town. The haired-boy got startled and dropped something he was eating which shattered into data, as such he dropped his head ins disappointment.

"Hey, guys!" He yelled over grabbing their attention. "I got some information that might help us."

 **Floor 19: Cross Hill**

Schmitt was at his comrade's grave. "Griselda…The only way to be saved now is if you forgive me." He said as he fell to his knees. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry… please forgive me…" He then said as he let his head down.

"Really?" A faint voice echoed through the air startling him as he looked up and saw the cloaked figure then covered his mouth scared. "What did you do to me Schmitt? Tell me." She then took out the sword that was made by Grimlock.

"T-the day we voted to sell the ring… I looked in my pouch and saw a crystal and a note with instructions." He managed to get out.

"From who?" Another voice said as another being with the same cloak appeared next to the other one. "Who gave you them?" He asked.

"G-Grimlock?" Schmitt asked scared.

"Answer the question Schmitt, who gave you those instructions?" The man asked more angered this time.

"I-I, I don't know, I swear! It said to bind it to Griselda's room, then I put the crystal in the guild share storage. That's all I did, I swear!" He answered freaked out. "I didn't want her to die, I didn't want her to be murdered! You have to believe me!" He shouted out in retort.

"All was recorded." A familiar voice then said as Schmitt looked up and saw that they were Kains and Yolko.

(Earlier that night)

"Wait, they're alive?" Asuna asked confused.

"Yeah, they're alive. I did some digging after I got information from the info broker, she said that there was said to be a glitch on this specific floor that swaps out the teleport animation for the death animation." He explained to them. "I asked and had to pay someone to help test to see if this glitch worked, and when they test it out, it only seemed to work if they were in the air, or so to say; if the game think's you're in freefall." He explained which made the two seemed flabbergasted.

"Wow, who would've guessed it was a glitch? That would mean yesterday, Kains' health wasn't draining do to the sword through his chest, he just had to put on a show before using a hidden teleport crystal." Kirito stated his thought.

"Exactly, and the same can be said about Yolko. She probably had her back turned to us the entire time so that when ready she would be hit by the dagger and would fall out the window faking her death."

"But then that person in the cloak that you chased…" Asuna wondered.

"I'd lay good odds that it wasn't Grimlock… but Kains, him and Yolko are probably in this together, once they found out about this glitch, they put together a plan to convince people they were dead." Kirito then explained.

"Everything they did was designed to expose Griselda's murderer." She then said.

"The only way to do that was to fake their deaths and make some kind Illusionary Avenger." Ash then stated.

"And Schmitt couldn't be in on it, since the beginning they probably thought think was him." Kirito stated. "Hey, don't you still have Yolko on your friends lists?" He asked his comrades.

"Already checked, if she was dead she would've been removed from it. Not only that, she seems to be on Floor 19 on a hill just outside of town. But, I don't think our job is done just yet." Ash explained.

(Present time)

"Y-you were… r-recording?" Schmitt asked shocked as he saw the crystal in Yolko's hand. "So, that's how it is, huh? You really care about what happened to Griselda that much?" He asked.

"Of course, we did, you didn't exactly hate her ether, right?" Kains then asked.

"N-no I didn't. Well, I fell guilty because I got something out of it, but the rare weapon I got was what helped me get into the Holy Dragon Alliance, so… I didn't tel…" Schmitt couldn't finish his sentence as he felt something stab him in the shoulder and he fell to the ground.

He looked at his health bar and saw the paralysis effect next to it, then followed by some psycho laughter. "One down!" Someone yelled as a someone in a ragged cloak couched down to him.

Not only that, there were more players with ragged cloaks, all covering their faces. They all had red cursors above their heads and surround them with weapons at their side. These weren't just random PK-ers, they were a part of the murder guild Laughing Coffin.

"That's a hell of a catch, big shot from the Holy Dragon Alliance." Another one said as he walked out with meat cleaver in hand. "Okay, what game to play with these three?" He then asked.

"OH! I got one, let's do the one where they kill each other, last one standing wins!" One of them said psychotically.

"You say that but the last time you killed the winner." Another one stated.

"OH COME ON! You spoiled it, it's no fun if they know they're gonna die!" The psycho said again.

"Ether way, time to get this show on the road. With a man's jawbone and a man's head, I have made ashes of them." The one with the meat cleaver said as he walked over to Schmitt and held up his weapon. "With a man's jawbone and a man's head, I have killed a thousand of them." He finished his quote as he was about to bring down his weapon until he heard something in the distance.

He stopped and the rest of his crew looked over to see a horse heading their way, making they jump back. As the horse stopped and threw its front feet up while neighing, making Kirito fall off.

"Dang it." He said as he dusted off his clothes and slapped the horse's behind making it run back. "Alright listen up, there are about thirty players from the assault team on their way here. I suggest you leave if you wish not to stay and fight them." He said as he pulled out his sword.

They were staring each other down for a while, before the leader snapped his figure making them put away their weapons as Yolko dropped to the ground. "Come on." The leader then said as they left. Kirito keeping an eye on them until they were out of sight.

"I understand if this is too surprising." He then said as he looked over at the presumed dead players.

"I'm sorry, I was gonna tell after it was all over. I'm really sorry about tricking you." Yolko then said to him.

"K-Kirito, thank you for your help. But how'd you know that they were gonna attack us?" Schmitt asked.

"I didn't, I just needed them to get out of here. And you two, you asked Grimlock to make those weapons for you, didn't you?" Kirito then looked over to the other two.

"Yes, but he was against our plan at the beginning, all he wanted for Griselda to rest in peace." Yolko explained.

"He didn't give us the weapons until we got down on our knees to beg." Kains then explained.

"Actually, that's not the reason he was against it. It had nothing to do with his wife." Kirito stated which confused them. "He thought that staging a dramatic incident like a safe-zone PK would draw attention, and he didn't want anything to snoop around for answers." He explained which confused them even more.

"Half an hour ago, we figured it all out." Ash then said as he appeared as well. "If you're married in SAO, you share item storage and you can't keep anything hidden, and once someone died, everything would go to the one who survived. Therefore, even if the killer did kill Griselda, it wouldn't do him good since the item would go to Grimlock." He finished explaining.

"You mean, it was Grimlock?" Schmitt asked completely shocked. "Then, those instructions were his." He then said

"Yes, but, it doesn't mean he was the one that did it. But like now he probably found a red player to do it for him." Kirito then explained.

"But, if that was it why would he go through all that trouble to have us killed?" Yolko then asked.

"You told him everything didn't you?" Ash asked as he walked up to her. "Your plan was the perfect chance to bury the incident and be rid of witnesses. All he had to do was wait for you three to get together, and you'd be sitting ducks. That'd help explain why Laughing Coffin was here, he hired them" He explained.

"Not just that, it was probably that same bunch that killed Griselda." Kirito spoke up as Yolko almost fainted.

"Found him." Asuna's voice came in as they saw her come from the forest with Grimlock.

"You wanna know more, ask him yourself."

Grimlock then stopped in front of them and spoke. "It's certainly been a while hasn't it."

"Grimlock… did you really...?" Yolko asked in disbelief as he didn't answer. "Answer me! How could you!? She loved you, you loved her! How could you!? WHY WOULD YOU!?" She yelled out in anger.

"It wasn't for money, I'll tell you that. I had to, no matter what, while we were still in this world I needed to kill her… even if she was my wife in the real world." He said as the others got shocked at what they heard.

"The perfect wife, ideal, pretty… submissive. The whole time we were with each other, we never had a single fight… but once we came here to this world, everything changed. I was the one afraid and terrified of this death game we were forced to play, but she seemed so much happier here, more alive than ever in the real world. I had no choice, the Yuko I knew was gone, I had to take her life. Don't you understand? Murder is a part of this game, all I can do now is hold onto the memory of her. So, you see, I didn't kill her, I killed the thing that took her place."

He just finished what he was saying, and everyone was shocked. "That's why you killed her? You killed your wife just because of she was adjusting to this world?" Kirito asked angry.

"Kid, someday when you're as old as me, you'll understand what it's like to lose love." He then said as the black-haired boy was taken aback.

"You're wrong." Asuna said as she walked in front of him. "That was not love, it never was… You stopped loving her when you became the selfish bastard you are." She then said as he flinched and fell to his knees.

Ash and Kirito were about to go over to him until Kains and Schmitt went over to him instead. "Six months and we almost thought Schmitt did it. Kirito, Ash, we appreciate your help, but I think this is our problem now." Kains said as they picked him up.

The two just nodded as the people they helped took their leave, not before Yolko turned around and bowed one last time as the sun began to come up. "Well, looks like that's it." Ash stated as their job was done.

"Yeah, guess so. Anyway, I'm hungry after all we've been through." Asuna stated.

"Yeah, we didn't really get to have dinner." Kirito then stated.

"I see." Ash said as the two walked off.

He looked back over to the sunset and thought about everything he's been through, how he seemed to bond with the very two people that he met during one of the boss raids. "Hey." He heard Kirito and turned to him and Asuna. "We've been away from the frontlines for a while, I just thought the assault team could use an extra hand with some of the floors. Unless you have other things to do." He offered.

He was surprised that he was actually being asked to join. How could he let this opportunity slide, it was a chance to meet new people and bond with his friends more. Plus, he never got to see them in who knows how long, and if he wanted to meet them in the real world he should at least spend some time with them.

Kirito held out his hand, and he looked at him for a second. With that, he took his hand and joined them. But then they were stopped and turned around, just beside the grave stood a lady. A young beautiful woman. They opened their eyes in shock and when they blinked… she was gone.

"Hey, you wanna friend me?" Asuna then asked which took the other two aback. "It's kinda silly not to, the three of us are gonna be together on the assault team after all." She then mentioned.

"But, I'm a solo player…" Kirito tried to explain.

"Hey, I'm not asking to party with you." She then stated.

"Wait, do you have anyone on your friend's list?" Ash then asked.

Kirito didn't respond, he looked nervous, then Asuna slapped his shoulder. "Think about it after breakfast, no pressure. I say we head back to find a good restaurant."

"Yeah, I'm a little beat as well." Then they all headed off together.

This was it, Ash was ready to get to know the duo now after so long. He was gonna spend time with them and now that he's a part of the assault team, well who knows what it's gonna be like with them? But Ash was glad that he had some friends that he could always count on now.

To be continued…

Omake: Suguha's cameo

(Real World)

In a hospital, there was still over five thousand people in Sword Art Online alive. Some of which had family members that came in from time to time so that they could see them. One girl in particular with pixel like hair(Not like video games) was leaving after visiting a certain person.

She stopped and looked into one room and saw a boy with tan like skin even after all this time who looked no different apart from his Z shaped birthmarks on his face. She may not know who he was, but that didn't stop her from feeling bad that he was stuck in that game and away from his family.

Abridged Omake: The Kirito is always Right Foundation

The three were sitting in the restaurant. After all the shit they've been through, they wanted nothing else to do. "*Gasp* Oh shit, I completely forgot!" Kirito then yelled out.

"Huh?" Ash asked confused.

"What is it Kirito?" Asuna asked confused.

"Dammit! I hope it's not too late." He then said as he went through his menu.

"What's up?" Ash asked not following.

"Was there something we missed?" Asuna asked lost.

Then a party noise played. "BOOM! Kirito is Always Right Foundation! Grand reopening!" Kirito then started laughing his ass off as Ash and Asuna were annoyed. They then got sick of his little immature act, both grabbed a fork, and… "AHH!"

OW! AH! OW, I JUST GOT FORKS IN MY EYES! AHHH! Just kidding, I can't get hurt from a fanfiction. Anyway, until we get done with the Aincrad Arc, Ash is stuck without a pairing. One day I might make a one-shot where Ash is with another girl, but this one is gonna have him be with Sugu. 6659 words in total, we're done, stay tuned for the next chapter.


	5. The Temperature of the Heart

Let's read the recent reviews for… wait, where's the re-are you guys serious? No one made a review for the two in one chapter? *Sigh*, calm down. Guess no one read it yet… even though it's been up for days. I've watched two episodes of Log Horizon, and it's pretty good. If you want to see a crossover of Digimon and Log Horizon with Davis like I'm doing with Ash in SAO, let me know.

If you want to how I can do a better version of Akame ga Kill, I'll gladly show you how I do it. Also, why hasn't anyone else made a fanfiction with Ash in SAO where he gets with Sugu besides me? I would've expected that by now since there is literally a lot of stories and none have him with a SAO girl. I don't know how to start this episode so we're just wing it.

It has been two years as of now and still, no one has come even close to the hundredth floor. You'd think that at least after a year the game would've been beaten, but it hasn't for various reasons. Including that most people weren't even fighting, there people killing others, and the floor bosses were getting harder and harder with each floor.

The assault team was the best shot at getting out and not even they were having the best time, with Laughing Coffin attacking most of their groups and fighting other PK guilds such as Titan's Hand, they had their hands full. Ash was the newest recruit and fought on the front lines alongside Kirito and Asuna, with the time he's spent with them he's really gotten to know them. Mostly Kirito, but still.

Ash was still a solo player from time to time, but sometimes he didn't go in alone. He would mostly take breaks in order to do some grinding here and there and would also go check up on his friends list from time to time to know where his friends were from time to time just so he can have someone to talk to.

He changed his outfit as well, donning a long light blue trench coat with white lining (Based of the Kalos version of his clothes), long navy-blue pants, a long sleeve black shirt with white sleeves underneath. Just around the color of his coat was a red scarf, and his sword was now something called 'Sword of Eventide' from something called Laketop Fortress quest. Kirito asked him to help run an errand for him, what he wanted him to help with was getting a new sword apparently.

Chapter 6: The Temperature of the Heart  
(Wait, what kind of title is this?)

 **June 24, 2024 Floor 48: Lindas**

Their stop was the Blacksmith's shop. "You've been here before?" Kirito asked after he heard from his friend about when he came here.

"Yeah, I just needed to sharpen my sword. I just happen to be on this floor so, I decided to come here to get my blade checked on real quick." Ash stated.

"So, you know the person here then?" The black-swordsman then asked.

"Not really, I only said hi, asked for my blade to get a checkup, and that's it."

They then entered and started to look around, well Ash did. Kirito was just waiting for the blacksmith to come out so that he could make a custom order, then the pink haired blacksmith walked through door from downstairs. "Welcome to Lizbeth's Blacksmith shop." Lizbeth greeted them as she saw that she had a returning customer.

"Hey there again." Ash greeted back.

"Oh, welcome back. Need another checkup? It's been awhile." She then asked.

"Naw, I'm actually just here with him." He stated referring to the other male in the room.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you do custom orders." Kirito then said to her as she gave him with an odd look.

'He doesn't look like he has that much money' She thought to herself. "I can, but metal prices aren't really cheap." She then stated.

"Oh, I'm not worried about the price. I just want the best sword you can make is all." He explained to her.

"Well I make a lot of different swords, but if you have an idea of the quality I'm sure I can make it."

"Oh, sure, one sec." He then took his sword and sheath off his back. "I'm just looking for something that the same quality or better than this." He then handed it to her as she nearly dropped it on the table.

Lizbeth then quickly appraised it and was surprised by what it was. "An Elucidator… This is one of the best magic swords you can get from a monster drop." She then said amazed.

"You never told me that." Ash said as he was also amazed.

"Well, I was gonna at some point." Kirito stated as the girl went to get one of her swords.

"This is the best sword I ever forged, I call it my masterpiece." She then handed one of them to him as he did a few swipes with it.

"I don't know, it's pretty light."

"Well, I did use a speed-type metal to forge it." She then stated.

"I don't think speed-type metals really make swords lighter." Ash stated.

"Hey Ash, could you hold this for a sec?" The black-swordsman asked as he handed him his sword.

"Uh, sure. Why?" The boy asked as he just took it.

"I'd like to test it out if it's okay." Kirito then asked Lizbeth.

"Test it how?" She asked confused.

"You know, it's durability."

He then made Ash position it then aimed the sword he had as his own, when Liz saw this she nearly freaked out. "Wait, what?" The other boy asked confused.

"What the heck are you doing!? If you break your sword I'm not responsible." Liz then said warning him.

"If it breaks that's too bad!" Kirito then brought down the sword he was given and broke in half once making contact with his Elucidator.

The top half landed on the floor, and in just a few seconds it shattered into data Lizbeth screaming in the process. She then ran over and ripped the sword out of the black-wearer's hand and said… "You broke my masterpiece…" She said softly as the last bit shattered as well.

She then dropped to her knees and seemed as though she was about to cry, but… "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU KNUCKLEHEADS THINKING!?" She then grabbed both of them by the collars of their shirts.

"Hey, I just held the sword I didn't shatter anything!" Ash said in protest.

"I'm sorry, I never thought that yours would break so easy." Kirito then stated as well.

"Are you saying my sword, my masterpiece of a sword was lamer than you thought!?" She let go of one to scold the black-wearer more.

"Well… something like that." He then stated again.

"For your information, if I had the right materials I could make a buttload of swords that will shatter both of yours into a million tiny little pieces! You got that." She then scolded them again.

"Really, sounds like the one I'm looking for. As long as it can shatter mine of course." Kirito then said with a douche smile as Lizbeth was just getting more annoyed while Ash looked at him dumbfounded.

"Okay, jackass, but you gotta help me make it every step of the way. And we'll start by getting the metal for it." She then stated.

"I think I'll be fine with just Ash, I'd rather not have you getting in the way." He stated.

"Don't you dare insult me, believe it or not I'm an expert mace user." She then said to them.

"Suit yourself." He then went to collect his sheath.

"Where's the metal anyway?" Ash asked.

"Floor 55 on the Western Mountain, there's a dragon there that's eats crystals. According to what I've heard, it's supposed to store a rare metal in its body." She explained to them.

"Floor 55, it is then. C'mon Ash, let's get go…" Kirito was about to say until.

"And you're supposed to bring a master smith along in order for the metal to spawn. Still think you can get it?" She then said with a smug look on her face.

Kirito looked away, then back and stared at her for a few seconds before looking at his friend. He just got a 'This was because of you' face in return. "Fine just keep quiet and stay out of the way." He said offending the girl. "By the way, my name's Kirito, guess the three of us are gonna be a party until we're done here." He then introduced himself.

"Yeah whatever, Kirito." Lizbeth just looked away annoyed.

"Well, if you're gonna be like that I can roll with it… Lizzzzzbeth." He then said as she puffed out her cheeks.

(Commercial break)

TaiKetch'em: I just want to point out that I almost put Liz with Ash. I don't know why, but I think the pink hair goes good with her design. I guess it's because I'm a little into Ash being with girls that have pink hair.

MarioKid: So, you were about to put Ash with Lizbeth?

TaiKetch'em: Well, that was before I heard of Suguha's existence.

(Back to the show)

 **Floor 55: Western Mountain**

The three were now walking through an icy tundra up a mountain that was extremely cold, Lizbeth sneezed being the only one without a coat or pants on. "So, cold." She whimpered.

"Well, you should've brought a coat or something." Kirito stated as they stopped for a second.

"I didn't know floor 55 was gonna be this freaking cold." She said as she wrapped her arms around herself. Then she felt something get thrown to her, a winter coat from Ash. "Wait, are you…?" She then asked confused.

"I'm gonna be fine. The snow here, makes the real world cold more cold in my opinion." He stated.

She didn't get what he meant but just put on the coat anyway, it was warm. 'I can't believe I'm out alone with these two. This is odd.' She then thought to herself.

"Hey, Lizbeth." The boy called over getting her attention. "You coming?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah." She then said as she went back to following them.

(A couple of minutes later)

They finally reached the top of the mountain where there were lots of ice formed in the shape of crystals, Liz was amazed by the beautiful sight of all the crystal shaped ice that was around the mountain.

She almost ran ahead but was pulled back by Kirito. "Hey! What's your problem?" She asked annoyed.

"You should get your teleport crystals ready." He stated.

"I know, I know, I'm doing it." She said as she went to get one from her inventory.

"And we're handling this part on our own." He then said referring to him and Ash.

"Once the dragon appears, you're gonna need to hide behind one of these crystals. Don't come out no matter what." Ash stated.

"Oh, come on! I'm not a newb, if I wanna help you I'll…"

"DO IT SACHI!" Kirito then suddenly screamed cutting Liz off and making her flinch.

They just stood there staring at one another, before she just nodded. "Good, come on." He then said as he put his hand on her head then walked ahead of her.

'What was that?' She thought to herself confused. She looked over at Ash and he looked just as lost.

Then they heard a big roar out in the distance, it was the dragon alright. "Hurry up and take cover, Ash you're with me." Kirito said as Liz ran behind one of the rocks and the other came to help.

The dragon then made its way into the opening and flapped its wings creating strong wind. It then blasted a breath attack at them, Liz was about to warn them, but they were already hit. Only for the smoke to disappear and showing Kirito had blocked the attack.

They then ran up to it and attacked, Kirito gave Ash a boost bringing him up to head for a slash, meanwhile on the ground he hit one of its legs. It then tried to use its breath attack again, but the spiked hair boy came down slashing it down the chest, then Kirito went up and cut off one of its arms.

"Come on! Finish if off!" Lizbeth yelled as she came out of hiding.

Kirito: Damnit!

Ash: No!

"What's the big deal? You guys already…" She was about to say until it started flapping its wings creating an avalanche of snow and taking her with it.

"Ash, go get her! I'll hold it off!" Kirito yelled as he continued to fight the dragon.

"Okay." Ash said as he ran to where she was going.

She screamed to the top of her lungs as she then began falling into a hole, eventually Ash managed to grab ahold of her hand. "Liz! Hang on!" He shouted as he grabbed ahold of her while they were falling.

They feel down into the deep dark hole as Lizbeth's screams faded away into the darkness and they were out of sight.

(Who knows how long later)

Lizbeth woke up with a blurry sight at first, she felt strange, and off for some reason. Then she looked up and saw that her health was in the yellow. Not only that, she was right on top of Ash. "Are you… still alive?" He asked in a scratchy voice.

"Uh… yeah, I'm alive." She said softly as she got up.

He got into a sitting position and reached into his coat to grab something. "Here, drink one of these in case your health is low." He said as he handed her a potion.

He then drank of them as his health began to fill back up. She looked back at the one she got and took it as well. "Hey… thank you… for saving me." She said to him.

"Don't thank me just yet, we have to find a way to get out of here first." He stated as he looked up.

They seemed to be stuck in a large hole. "Huh? Can't we just teleport out?" She asked as she took out a crystal. "Teleport: Lindas!" She then said as nothing happened. "… No way."

"Yeah, I figured this would be one of those. There should be another way out if we can't teleport." He stated as he got up.

"How are you sure there is? Maybe this is some kind of trap to kill people that fall into it." She stated worried.

"No! If it was, we'd probably have been killed already." He stated as he began to think. "Okay, I have a stupid idea that might and might not work." He stated grabbing her attention.

"Wait, really?" She asked as she got up.

"Don't get your hopes up, running up the walls is pretty much a stupid idea." He then stated as she looked at him dumbfounded.

"I'm sorry?" She asked confused.

"It's dumb I know, but might as well give it a shot." He then said as he backed up then ran and jumped at the wall and began running up it. Liz couldn't believe he was actually able to do it, then he slipped and then fell straight to the ground creating a hole in the shape of his body.

"Okay, I'm not doing that again." He said as he got out.

"Yeah, probably for the best." She then said to him.

"I'll try to contact Kirito." Ash said as he opened his menu and when to try and contact him, he got no response. "*Sigh* Of course, he can't pick up." He groaned sarcastically.

(Hours later)

It was late and they set up their sleeping bags for the night, they had to use a lamp for light since they were pretty much stuck in a hole. "It feels pretty strange. This would never happen in real life, going to strange places, meeting a total stranger and then sleeping right next to them. Not to mention that you just tried to run up that wall, seriously. You are so weird." Lizbeth giggled at the last part.

"Yeah, very funny." Ash then said sarcastically.

"Hey uh, Ash… Can I ask you something?" She asked.

"Ask away." He stated.

"Back then, why did you risk your life to save me?" She asked him.

He gave her a look at first before looking up. "Because, I can't just let someone die like that. If I let someone die who didn't deserve it, I wouldn't be able to live with myself… Especially if it's some I just met, like you Liz." He then stated with a smile.

She paused at first but then smiled. "You really are an idiot… You're the only person who'd think like that." She then said. She then laid back down in her bag, and a few moments later… "Hey… hold my hand?" She then asked as she held out her hand.

He looked back over to her, stared at her for a few seconds before agreeing. He moved his hand over and placed it in hers, she the wrapped her fingers around it and they stayed like that for a while. "It's so warm…" She said gaining his attention. "Even though you and I are just a bunch of data in a virtual world, it feels so real." She then stated.

"I know it does." He then said to her as she smiled and closed her eyes.

And with that, they both fell asleep.

(The next morning)

Sunlight was beaming into the hole, Lizbeth woke up yawning. She then heard some sound and turned to Ash, it looked like he was digging for something. Then the memory of their hands holding came to mind, causing her to blush then pat her face to make her stop.

"What are you doing?" She then asked.

"Just looking for something, I managed to find this." He told her as he pulled out a crystal.

She then appraised it, the name of the item was called _Crystallite Ingot._ "Wait… is this...?" She then said surprised.

"Yep, I'm pretty sure it's what we came for. The dragon eats crystals and then they turn into these in the stomach." He then stated as he got up. "No wonder no one seems to be able to find it." He stated as he tossed it to her.

"Yeah, well you found it. What's it doing down here though?" She asked.

"I don't think this hole is a trap, if anything it's probably the dragon's nest. Also, that's not just an ingot, it's also pretty much the dragon's manure." He then stated.

She looked at the item, back up, then back to the item and when she finally got the idea, she squealed and threw it in the air. "Well, we got what we came here for. Still, stuck ether way." He then said as he got a call from Kirito. "Great, doesn't answer me, but calls me." He said as he answered the voice call.

" _Hey, you guys still alive?"_ He asked.

"Yeah, we're alive. Where were you?" Ash asked annoyed.

" _I'm sorry, I got stuck in a big hole and I wasn't able to get out."_ The black-wearer explained.

"You too, huh?"

" _Yeah, don't worry though I'm on my way. When you see the dragon get on it quickly."_ The video then ended leaving them confused.

"Wait, what does he mean by…?" Liz was about to ask but stopped before doing so.

Both of them looked up, at first they saw nothing, then the dragon came into view freaking out the blacksmith. Just on top of the dragon was Kirito, who seemed to be riding it. Ash then got the message then picked Liz up and then used his sword at the ground to create dust to blind the dragon for a second.

It then cleared and they were gone, or at least the dragon thought so. He was running up the wall like last time except this time he jumped and headed for the dragon. "Grab on!" Kirito yelled as he held his hand out.

Ash grabbed it and managed to hold on as they took off. The were blinded by the light as they made it out of the cave, then they all went flying off the dragon. As they were falling, Lizbeth caught sight of the beautiful sun rise, and amazed at how beautiful of a sight this was. Then she looked over to Ash and saw him holding his hand out. She smiled and took ahold, then pulled him in as they continued to fall.

 **Floor 48: Lindas**

MacKid: WAIT, WAIT, WAIT! What happened?

TaiKetch'em: Wh-what do you mean?

MarioKid: Well, how'd they survive? You literately didn't tell us what happens next.

TaiKetch'em: They use a teleport crystal? I don't know, just take the word for it that they survived. It happened in the anime.

They were now down in the basement… or whatever you call that downstairs place in blacksmith shops, Ash was leaning against the wall. Liz was not getting ready to make the sword Kirito asked for, placing the ingot after smelting it on the anvil. "A one handed long sword, right?" She asked.

"Yep, make it awesome." He then stated.

She then pulled out the hammer and got to work. It was taking a while, swinging it down several times. She also seemed to be thinking about something, the two couldn't tell what she was thinking about, but it seemed to be serious to her. Then the sword was finished and formed into a long crystal colored blade.

"The sword is called the Dark Repulser. First of its kind, not in the Info brokers' directory." She said as she took the sword and handed it to Kirito.

He took it and did a few swipes with it. "… It's really heavy, it's good alright." He then said satisfied as she got a smile on her face. "Thanks." He said as he put the sword in a sheath. "How much do I owe you?"

"Oh, actually… I don't really need any money… I just have something else in mind." She stated as she looked towards Ash afterwards surprising him a little as he stopped leaning on the wall.

"What do you want then?" He asked.

"Well… every time you get back from the field, let me do maintenance on your swords. One or both of you." She then said hiding a blush.

"Wha… what do you mean?" He then asked confused.

"Look, I just… I…" She then was about move her hand until…

*Slam* "LIZ! I was so worried!" Asuna yelled as she jumped down the stairs and ran over to hug her. "WHERE WERE YOU LAST NIGHT!? I tried messaging you, but you didn't answer I couldn't track you on the map." She then blurted out worried.

"S-sorry, I got stuck in a dungeon." She explained.

"Uh, no. I went with them." She then pointed to the two.

Asuna turned around and was surprised at who she was referring to. "Wha-Kirito? Ash?" She said confused.

"Oh, Asuna. Long time no see." Kirito then said not knowing what to say.

"Long time? It's only been two days." Ash stated.

"I didn't know you wanted to check this place out, I would've come with you two." She stated.

"Wait, you guys know each other?" Lizbeth asked confused.

"Well yeah, the three of us are on the assault team." Kirito explained to her as her eyes widened.

"He said he was looking for a more powerful sword, so I told him about your place." Asuna stated.

"Yeah, and I was asked to help him run an errand. Didn't think this would happen." Ash then explained.

"Oh…" Liz then said softly.

"Why is she acting like that? I swear if you did anything weird to her…" The orange haired woman was about to say.

"I-I didn't do 'anything'." The black-swordsman retorted.

"Actually, you should've seen what he did when we first arrived." Ash then said with a smug grin.

"Why're you two ganging up on me? I almost died in a pit!" Kirito tried to protest.

"Like that's my fault." Asuna then countered.

"Yeah, I didn't know you were in a pit." Ash then stated.

Liz saw what was happening and saw how you three got along, but more or less, she heard how Ash and Asuna were ganging up on Kirito. Like you two were close, and she looked down because of it. (Just to be clear, Liz thinks that Asuna and Ash were together and that's where she makes her mistake. She doesn't tell Ash because of a misunderstanding and loses her chance)

"If this guy said anything rude you'd tell me, right?" Asuna asked her. She didn't get a response and saw her friend looking down.

"Rude? Get this, the first thing he does is shatter my best sword." She then replied with a fake smile.

"WHAT!? I'm so sorry." The orange haired girl said with her hands together.

"You don't have to apologize Asuna." Liz then said as she walked up to her. "He might be strange, but he's not bad. Don't screw this up Asuna." She whispered to her then headed upstairs.

Asuna thought she was talking about Kirito and blushed at what she said. "But I told you, it's not like that!" She said in retort, then she had to ask. "Wait, where are…?" She was about to ask.

"Sorry, I have to go pick up some supplies. I'll be right back, watch the shop for me until I come back." The pink haired girl said as she walked out the door.

"W-wait, Li!..." Asuna tried to call her back, but she was already gone.

(Outside the wall of the town)

Lizbeth was sitting behind a bridge with her head in her arms and to her knees, she almost gave away her feelings for him when someone just so happened to come in. (Again, she fails to get with Ash because she thinks he's with Asuna when he's not) She was almost ready to cry.

"Hey, Liz?" Ash's voice was heard as he was on the bridge.

She then got up to the sound of his voice. "I almost got away with it… a couple more minutes and I would've been back to normal." She said as she turned him and rubbed her eyes. "How did you find me?" She asked.

"Well, it was an idea from Kirito." He said as he pointed up towards the tower. "I went up there and scanned the town." He then explained.

"Tch, you're always doing crazy things with that guy, aren't you?" She asked as she smiled. Then she walked over to the water. "Sorry about worrying you, I'm okay now. I'm just… not used to having adventures like the one we had just now… oh just forget it." She then covered her eyes.

"Liz, Kirito and I didn't get to thank you. So, thank you." He then said to her.

"What do you mean? You didn't get anything." She asked confused.

"Well, you helped my friend which is what I came here to do. So, I can thank you." He then said to her.

"Still, even in this world, our lives are real and have a meaning. Even if this seems to be a death game, I've feel just as alive here as I ever did in the real world. It feels real, and no matter what, dying is not the only way out of this game. Not to me at least." He explained.

"Yeah, I was looking for something as well. Something real, and hope that I'd find it." She then said to him. "What happened down in that hole we were in… that was real." She then said with her hands together.

"Liz…" Ash was about to say.

"I'm fine really. The part about getting over it is gonna take a while. Just… promise me… that we'll get out of this world. Till then… I'll keep trying to hang on." She then said.

He then looked at her for brief moment before answering… "I promise."

"… If you or Kirito need a repair, my door is always open." She then said. "Don't forget now, you'll always be welcome at my shop." She then said with a smile.

To be continued…

Abridged Omake #1: Really Kayaba?

Ash then jumped onto the wall then started running up it. "Holly balls, he might actually…" Liz was about to say until he slipped and the sound effect of Goofy's scream played as he fell screaming himself. "Oh, nevermind."

He then crashed into the snow creating a creator in the shape of himself, and grunted as he was coming out. "Did you really have to add sound effects, Kayaba?" He said annoyed as the sad trombone effect played. "OH, FUCK YOU!" He then yelled.

Abridged Omake #2: The dragon poop sword

"Oh, so what did you call it?" Lizbeth asked.

"Well, I had an idea that seemed appropriate… 'Sunlight Heart'." Ash then told her.

"Oh, Ash, it's beautiful." She then said.

"But, Kirito was against and gave it a different name. 'The piece of shit… the dragon shit that is. LOL Trademark Lizbeth' followed by your contact info." He then stated.

"W-why would you just let him do that?" She then asked shocked.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I lied about the contact and the trademark part, I was just being an 'ash'. But he did call it 'The Piece of shit' I'll tell you that." He then said with a smug smile.

She then turned around while giggling as tears fell from her eyes. "Wow, you two are assholes." She then said.

"See, that sounds more like me." He then stated.

"*Sigh* I can't believe I actually wanted to sleep with you." She then said.

"Yeah, feel pretty stupid rig… wait, WHAT!? When the hell was that on the table!?" He yelled freaked out.

That's all we have for today, I know what you're going to ask: If you were thinking of putting Ash with Lizbeth, why didn't you do it? If you aren't going to put him with Liz, why make it seem as though they have a romantic relationship? Firstly, that was back before I heard of Leafa, secondly I just wanted to get at least this off my chest, and give this idea to someone else to make a fanfic like that.

Unfortunately, it also means there will be upset girls by the time that the rest of the group find Ash and Suguha together some of the girls will be upset. Still, it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. If you want to see me do a Log Horizon/Digimon crossover with Davis and Shiroe, I see what I can do after I finish the first season. Until then, thank you for reading and please leave a review to let me know what you think… and I'm not fixing spelling errors because I'm too tired.


	6. The Blue-Eyed Demon

Before we start I just wanna say that the Abridged Omakes are gonna stop at the Fairy Dance Arc because the Abridged series has yet to continue. Also, the shipping name for the couple in this fanfiction is Alfiemshipping because we all need a shipping for Ash couples and I decided on Leafa because she needs to get over her little, you-know-what.

But people have wanted me to do Sinon and if you want me to do a fanfiction where they do get together, I'll be happy to do so in the future. One-shot or story, which ever you like.

Ash was currently in a dungeon right now going head to head with some of the monsters swarming it. The monsters didn't exactly put up much of a fight, being that he was a higher level than them they were not exactly a challenge. One monster though gave him a bit of trouble, it looked like an anthropomorphic lizard warrior with a simple sword and shield and it was annoying to deal with.

Still, after a few strikes here and there he beheaded the monster and it burst into data fragments, then the box showed up saying he got no items, 1034 Col, and 7969 EXP. After that he thought he gained enough and sheathed he sword to head back to get some rest.

Two years since the Death Game began, some preferred to fight alone, others beside others. On the frontlines of the Assault Team, Kirito was the one who mainly fought solo on the frontlines but sometimes Ash would come to aid him. Still, Ash hoped to get closer to him and Asuna since they did seem like a trio.

Well at least a duo since he spends more time with Kirito than Asuna, though good times aside he was also focused on getting out of this game and getting back home. He wondered if Kayaba was watching, and he could only wonder what he's thinking right now… or what he'd probably think of seeing one of his tester's son in this world.

Oct. 17, 2024 Floor: Selmburg

Chapter 7: The Blue-Eyed Demons

The place was huge and there was hardly anyone around, which kind of made it seem a little lonely and a little too quiet. But the stars were bright and there a beautiful view of the moon up in the sky, as is with other floors. He knew Asuna lived somewhere around this floor and thought maybe he could pay her a visit and see what she's up to.

Then when she did come to mind, he thought of how her guild; The Knights of the Blood oath had changed. Its new policy was that higher ups have an escort, which was kind of lame and he heard that some of the bodyguards were over the top sometimes. He heard one of them gave someone shit for wanting to spend time with who they were guarding.

He walked down the street and decided maybe he should go see Asuna, of course he hoped Kirito wouldn't be a little jealous. He did think they might make a good pair towards each other should they get together one day. He was on his way down when he saw Asuna walk out onto her doorstep with Kirito.

Ash wondered why the Black Swordsman was in the Lightning Flash's house, he wondered what they were doing. Then they spotted him and Asuna waved to him, as such he went over to talk to them.

"Hey guys." He said greeting them.

"Hello, Ash." Asuna said greeting back.

"Hey there." Kirito just said.

"What have you guys been doing exactly?" He then asked.

"Oh man, you just missed the best meal ever. You should've been here earlier." The black-haired boy said rubbing his stomach.

"He caught a Ragout Rabbit and I had some cooked up for us." The rapier user stated.

"Huh? Wait, you guys got to eat a Ragout Rabbit?" He said with a little jealousy.

"Oh, sorry didn't think to tell ya." The Black Swordsman said rubbing the back of his head.

"Uh… *Sigh* Yeah thanks a lot." He then said. 'I thought we were supposed to be the three musketeers or something.' He thought joking a little.

"Hey Ash." Asuna gained his attention. "Do you ever get the feeling like you've lived here your whole life?" She then asked looking up at the sky.

"Well, a lot of times I guess. Sometimes I wonder what the differences between the real and virtual worlds is, but I think I it's just because of how long we've been in this game." He told her.

"I think I can understand a little." Kirito then stated while leaning against the wall. "There's days I don't really think about the real world, and it's not just us. These days, fewer and fewer care about escaping this world and returning to the real one." He said to them.

"I notice there aren't many players fighting on the frontlines, maybe 500 or lower. I guess, they're used to it." Asuna then said looking a bit down.

"… As if they don't care anymore." Ash then said. "I'm not like them though, I still care about getting back to the real world and I want to see my mother again. If anything, she's worried beyond and is hoping for me to be alive and come back." He explained. "So, even if the people here don't care about going back I do, I will go back no matter what." He claimed.

"Yeah, and all the people that do want to get out, it wouldn't be fair if we were to quit." Kirito said with a smile.

"…" Asuna just stood there silent for a moment. "Hey guys, I know how other players don't fit in with the guilds, but ever since we got to floor 70 things are getting more and more dangerous and the monster algorithms are even more irregular." She then stated.

"We've had this talk earlier, I wasn't really gonna agree to this, but it wasn't up for debate." The Black Swordsman said while looking away. "Asuna wants the three of us to team up again." He then told him.

Ash was taken aback, again they were gonna randomly team up for whatever reason. "What's the occasion?" He asked curious.

"Well, it's not we have leveling quotas to meet and I'm pretty much ditching my bodyguard. Also, I do want the three of us to get closer to one another since we are on the frontlines, in all honesty if I didn't know better I'd say you and Kirito are brothers." She said as they were a little surprised that she seemed to compare the two.

"Hey, I'm not exactly an edgy solo-player here." Ash said in protest while Kirito looked annoyed.

"It's just an expression. So, are you in or?..." Asuna then asked as she sent him a party invite.

He took one more glance at them before smiling then deciding to join. "Well, I guess I apologize for not asking if you wanted some of the rabbit. But maybe next ti-*Sigh* who am I kidding, I might not get my hands on another one anytime soon." Kirito was saying until he realized.

"Hey, don't worry about it. But next time, maybe save some at least?" Ash then asked him as he nodded.

They then all looked up at the tower and sky. "The way the world is now… and seeing what it's become since we got here, is this anything like Kayaba wanted?" Kirito just said out of the blue. Ash thought about it at first and wondered what he meant, but he couldn't think of an answer.

Oct. 18, 2024 Floor 74: Calmdet

Ash was looking around for the members in his party, he was told they should meet up around Calmdet but where, he wasn't told. He didn't see the two anywhere at all, but they had to be here because they heard people saying stuff about Kirito fighting a member of the Knights of the Blood Oath. Did he get into a fight with Asuna?

Nah, it wouldn't exactly break out for no reason in the middle of all these people. He probably got into an argument with someone from the guild and but how, he couldn't exactly put her finger on. What he was upset about is that he knew that Kirito and Asuna went ahead without him, now he was sure they were going out since they went in alone.

He went up ahead to the dungeon, ready to start looking for the rest of his party. He tried to find their location and they didn't seem very far, he could probably make it on his own. "Hey there!" He heard a familiar voice as he turned to see a familiar face.

"Gary?" He asked after seeing the spike haired boy wave over to him.

He hasn't seen Gary in a while and he seemed to have change. Other than the other players next to him he wore a green coat (Think of Trunks' coat from Dragon Ball but green) with the sleeves rolled up, black wrist bands, navy blue pants, a black shirt, along with a sword strapped to his back. Not to mention steel shoulder pads and shin guards and some brown casual shoes.

"Long time no see man, how long has it been? 2 years?" He asked with a smile.

"Uh, yeah, it's great to see you again. Are these your friends you've told me about?" Ash asked him.

"Yep, it's also my guild; Oak's Tree." He told him. "Guys, this Ash, I met him at the beginning of the game. You know, one of the Beta-Testers that helped me out." He said introducing the boy his guild.

"Hey, there. My name is Barry, pleasure to meet you." The blonde one said holding his hand out.

"Uh, hi." Ash just shook his hand.

"He doesn't exactly do much of the fighting, but he's been able to pull through." Gary stated while Barry gave him a look.

Barry seemed to wear a trench coat as well only his was orange with white sleeves and had some undone belts. He wore a white shirt underneath, with the acceptation of brown pants, black boots and a dagger at his side with a shield on his back. And a green scarf around his neck.

"Next one's a cute one." The brown-haired boy said as the girl with blue hair blushed a little.

"Hey, do you mind." She said before walking up to the boy. "My name is Dawn, nice to meet you." She said extending her hand which he shook.

She was wearing black armor over a white combat dress with a pink skirt (Think of Erza's armor from Fairy Tail), she had a thin sword to her side and pink boots along with black metal gloves at her side.

"Last one's our tank: Meet Trip." Gary then said introducing the dark lime green haired boy wearing their heaviest armor.

"Nice to meet'cha, don't be intimidated my strength." He said smugly.

"He's just being a show off. Besides, he may look buff, but that's just armor." Barry said while Trip looked at him annoyed.

Trip did look a little buff, but not exactly buff. He had big steel armor that made him look like he had muscle, but a lot of players have those where they look like bodybuilders, when in reality, it's just armor (Just think of Naotsugu's armor from Log Horizon). He held a bigger shield along with a mace at his side.

"Nice guild you got here." Ash said with a smile.

"Thanks. Hey, why don't you join Oak's Tree with us? We could use some more members." The brown-haired boy asked. "Oh wait, are you already assigned with a guild?" He then asked.

"Well, I… uh…" He didn't know what to say exactly.

"Hey Gary, aren't we here to grind in the dungeon?" Barry then asked.

"Oh, right. Wanna join us man?" He asked again.

"Um, actually, I'm supposed to be meeting up with my party and…" Ash was saying. "Well, I kinda got separated." He then told them.

"Oh, really? Well even if you're not gonna join, let's do some battles together at least. You know, for old times sake." Gary then said to him.

Ash thought about it, he hasn't seen Gary in forever and now that they found each other again they had a chance to catch up and get to know his friends. "… You know what? For old times sake." He said extending his hand.

Floor 74: Dungeon

Ash, Gary and the team were dealing with the monsters in there, but there wasn't many, Ash had guessed it was because of Kirito and Asuna clearing it out. Trip was good at shielding and was an expert mace user at best, Dawn and Barry were doing switches since they seem to work best together.

As for Gary and Ash they were also working together not only to catch up but to make up for the black-haired boy kind of ditching his first friend in SAO. "Ash, switch!" Gary yelled as he threw the monster off and let Ash get the last hit as the group finally took down their monsters.

"Dudes, this is a pain in the butt. Why do we have to go around mapping the place? Why doesn't it just show us the map?" Barry groaned.

"Cause, that would mean we'd find the boss easily with no challenge. All video games have to be challenging and it's not hard when you can find the boss easily." Trip explained. "You are right though, it's kind of annoying." He then stated.

"Well, while we're here and there's no monsters, I'd like to ask: Who are you here with Ash?" Gary asked him.

"Oh, just some fellow members… slash friends I guess." Ash answered him.

"So, you are in a guild. That's cool." The brown-haired boy stated. "Where are they now?" He asked again.

"Well, they kinda forgot about me then came in without me." He told them while looking away.

"For real? Dude, that's cold." Barry said feeling a little bad for him.

"Well, there shouldn't be much left. I think this part of the dungeon is cleared out except for the boss." Trip stated while lowering his mace.

"I wonder what the boss looks like exactly." Dawn said curiously.

"Ugh, just thinking about it gives me the heebie jeebies." Barry groaned again.

"Okay, guys how bout we break for lunch?" Gary asked as they all agreed on so.

Then they all sat around in a circle and took out their own food. "Itadakimasu." They all said. (Look it up)

Then Dawn realized something. "Oh, you don't have food to each do you?" She then asked Ash since he wasn't taking out his food. "I got some extra if you want." She then offered.

"Oh, uh, no I couldn't." He tried to reject.

"Nonsense come on, I packed more than enough." She then said bringing out another sandwich for Ash. "Here." She said.

He looked at her then just decided not to argue. "Thanks." He said taking it. After the first bite, he was amazed. "Wow, this is really good." He said.

"It is an't it? Dawn our best cook in the guild, you should taste her macarons they are really good." Gary said to his friend.

"Yeah, her cooking skills may not be maxed out, but they are good." Barry then said as Dawn blushed from the compliments.

"Oh come on, they are plenty of people that are probably better than me." She said with a smile.

"OOOOHHH!" They heard come from afar.

"What the heck was that?" Trip said confused.

They finished up eating then checked to see what the commotion was and saw a group of guys around Asuna while Kirito was trying to hold them off. Then he got his foot stomped on by what could be assumed to be their leader who began talking to him while Asuna just giggled a little making them stop.

"Hold on, isn't that the Black Swordsman and Lightning Flash?" Barry said.

Ash was just staring at them for a bit while Kirito seemed to be talking to the guy that stomped on his foot. "Kirito and I are sort of together because we're in a party." She then said as they all looked confused.

"Kirito you son of a…" The guy in red was about to say until…

"Am I interrupting something?" Ash asked as they turned to him. "Okay, guess that's a yes."

"Oh, hey Ash. Sorry about before." Kirito then said feeling bad a little.

"What, you mean how you two ditched me to go on your little date?" Ash asked as him and Asuna blushed.

"What!? No! Firstly, it's not a date and second, we kinda had a little issue to deal with before this." The Black Swordsman told him.

Gary and his guild were amazed, Ash actually knew who Kirito and Asuna were as if they were friends. "Yeah, I heard. So it made you forget that you had a third party member to wait for." He then said a little annoyed.

"Dude, I thought you were solo, now you're in a party with three?" The red guy said confused.

"Well Klein, we kind of uh…" Kirito was lost for words.

"Hold on you know the Black Swordsman and Lightning Flash?" Gary said as he and his guild appeared.

"… Well, yeah we met during the raid on the first floor." Ash told them.

"C'mon man, why didn't you tell us?" The brown-haired boy asked.

"Cause you wouldn't believe me." Was his answer.

"We're really sorry about leaving you behind, Ash." Asuna apologized.

"Well, it's not really anything to worry about I guess." The spiked hair boy stated.

Then they all heard boots marching and turned their attention to what looked like an army of men from the guild at the first floor. What would they be doing up here? They were nearly slaughtered on floor 25 and they grow in numbers instead of leveling. Then their leader stopped and turned to them.

"At ease men." He said as they all dropped to the ground gasping for air. "Greetings, I am Lieutenant Colonel Corvatz of the Aincrad Liberation Army." He introduced himself.

"Kirito. Solo." Kirito then said to him.

"The road ahead, it's been cleared correct?" The man asked.

"Well, yeah everything except the boss room." Asuna told him.

"Then me and my men shall be the ones to clear this floor… for the people!" The man then said.

"Wait, are you insane?! You can't beat the boss in that condition! Your men can barely stand, much less fight." Gary said pointing to the men in the back.

"You dare doubt me, Colonel Corvatz? I am one of the greatest minds in the A.L.F. We shall not fail." Corvatz then says turning back to his men.

"Hey, I just took a look inside that room you pal. You can't beat that boss if your troops are half dead!" Kirito then said out in anger.

"Yeah, I mean. Look at them, they're exhausted." Ash then said pointing over to them.

"Nonsense! My men are tougher than that, and they an't quitting until I say so! On your feet, move it!" Corvatz then ordered them as they got up and left for the boss room.

"They're not gonna be okay." Klein said after seeing how everyone in that army was.

"Let's just hope they can use crystals." Ash stated since they were bound to lose.

"I'm sure they know what they're doing. They wouldn't rush the boss, would they?" Asuna said a little concerned.

"Maybe we should keep an eye on them anyway." Kirito said as two of the group had a confused look since that didn't sound like him exactly.

Then Gary and Klein's group followed Kirito to where he was going while Ash and Asuna were left with Klein for a second. "Hey, Ash, Asuna… I got a favor to ask." He then said gaining their attention. "He can be hard to talk to, is a loner addicted to combat, but I ask that you take care of him will ya?" He then asked bowing.

They looked over Kirito and the groups. "Alright, then." Ash just said.

"I promise he's in good hands." Asuna then said with a smile.

(Later on)

The two groups and three players were dealing with monsters that might be the remaining in the dungeon, and they were all holding their own while making progress. Ash got to see how Klein's group fought and got to do some fighting alongside Kirito and Asuna again like old times.

Then Klein took down what might be the last monster they had left. "Last one, all that's left is the boss room." He said putting his sword on his shoulder.

"Yeah, maybe those guys teleported out. I doubt they'd be that stupid not to." Gary stated his thought on the subject.

"Ya think? I don't know, that Corvatz guy says the greatest mind of the A.L.F. but he sounds like talk to me." Barry said since they did meet the guy earlier. "I mean, did you see his men? They looked like they were about to die, and he didn't seem to care at all." He then told them.

"I'm with Barry on this, we should go to the boss and probably…" Ash was saying until they heard screaming.

"Ash, Asuna." Kirito said as they nodded and ran off.

"Hey!" Klein said annoyed they were bailing as more monster spawned.

"Dammit! I thought we took out the last of them." Gary said annoyed as well.

Meanwhile, Kirito, Asuna and Ash were running to the source of the scream as another one occurred. They knew it had to be the idiot and his idiot army who probably went into the boss room without rest, like an army of nu-  
*Technical Difficulties*  
-into the boss room without rest, like an army of dumbasses.

When they made it, they found the army in front of the boss, blue fire surrounding the room and them close to near death. The boss named _Gleam Eyes_ swung its sword taking out most of their HP.

"What are you doing?! Teleport out!" Kirito yelled.

"Oh hell, why didn't we just think of tha-OF COURSE WE TRIED THE CRYSTALS! THEY'RE NOT WORKING!" One of them screamed while dodging another hit.

"It just had to be one of those traps didn't it." Ash said as it was a thing that happened before.

" _Teleport! Taft!"_

Kirito then slightly flinched after hearing what he said. "The Aincrad Liberation Army doesn't know the meaning of surrender! Keep fighting!" Corvatz like the idiot he is ordered his men.

"They're insane." Kirito said since they were still trying to take down the boss.

"Hey, what's going on?" Gary said as him and Klein made it.

"They can't teleport, they're trapped." Ash told them.

"We could distract the boss, but it's too risky." Kirito then told them.

"But, isn't there something we can do?" Klein said worried.

" _SACHI!"_

The Black Swordsman flinched again. "You okay?" Asuna asked with concern.

"Ready… CHARGE!" Corvatz yelled as they all rushed it.

"No! Don't do it!" Kirito yelled out to them.

The boss then fired a blast of purple flames then swung its sword again and a second time, sending Covatz flying and landing in front of the group. Kirito ran up to him and attempted to open his menu, only to see his helmet break and he looked mortified as he saw his face and him open his mouth trying to say last words, before bursting into fragments.

Asuna had his hand over her mouth and the rest of them looked just as mortified after watching what happened. Then one of the army guys yelled out as he was trampled over by the boss while looking terrified as the boss brought its sword up.

Asuna then began shaking. "No…" She mumbled hand on rapier as the demon was about to bring his sword down. "NOOOOOOOOO!" She then screamed running in.

"Asuna!" Ash and Kirito yelled as they went in after her.

"… Oh, what the hell!" Klein said as he just went in with them.

"Wait… Damnit!" Gary said as he ran in as well.

Asuna jumped into the air charging her skill then unleashed multiple attacks on the monster causing it a huge amount of pain. It then turned, swiped its sword at her while she tried to block, then punched across the field.

It was about to attack her, but Kirito came in and hit the sword trying to repel it as it nearly hit her being just inches away. "Get out!" He yelled as she jumped back.

Meanwhile Ash, Gary, and Klein with their groups were trying to help the army dumbasses out getting a thanks from them in return. The boss then saw then and was about to attack, but Kirito slashed it in the back then was going 1-on-1 with it. A slash here, a slash there, multiple slashes everywhere.

He managed to block one of its attacks and held their blades locked together. "Kirito!" Asuna yelled worried.

"Get out of there, Kirito!" Ash yelled also worried.

He then threw off the sword and dodged an upcoming attack. "Guys, I need ten seconds! Keep him off me! Switch!" He yelled as he jumped back avoiding another attack.

"Gh, alright!" Ash said as he ran forward with Asuna, Klein and Gary while Kirito was going through his menu.

Klein blocked an attack and Gary blocked another one before they got sent back. Ash and Asuna dodged one of its attacks then Ash went for its legs using one of his sword skills as did Asuna who blocked an upcoming attack.

"Okay, I'm ready!" Kirito then yelled running forward. "Switch!" He yelled as the others jumped back.

He blocked an upcoming attack before something formed on his back and he grabbed it. The boss's head got forced back as the others looked in awe at what they were seeing, Kirito had another sword in his hand. Not just any sword, the Dark Repulser, the one sword he hasn't used until now.

He blocked another hit from the boss and looked pissed off. "Starburst… Stream!" He then yelled as he began slashing back and forth with both swords faster than the human eye. 'Faster!' He then began to pick up the past nearly getting hit. 'FASTER!' He was still going back and forth extremely fast and at a speed that seemed impossible.

Then the boss caught one of his swords but just as it was about to attack, he charged up the other sword, chopped off the arm with its sword, then crossed his blades before slashing in an x style before it burst into fragments and was now and forever, dead.

"Is it… over…" He said as he looked up on to the congratulations with blurry vision before he fell back blacking out, the last thing him seeing was his HP bar with only a smidge of health left.

(A while later)

"Kirito!" A voice echoed as Kirito's eye began opening.

Right in front of him was Asuna, crying and looking at him worried. He then looked around and saw everyone else around him, they saw everything. "How long was I out for?" He asked as Asuna began choking on tears.

"A few seconds, but still…" Ash said as the girl just hugged him tightly.

"You reckless idiot…" She muttered. He just smiled and let her have her moment.

"Corvatz and two of his men were the only ones that didn't make it." Barry said a little sad.

Ash just looked down. "Haven't lost players in boss fights since Floor 67." He then said.

"That was no boss fight, that was fucking suicide. He was nothing but an idiot." Trip then said blaming the guy for almost killing all his men. "There's no point in doing any of these if you know you're gonna die and he should have known because of how everyone here was." He then said a little angry.

"You're not off the hook ether, what the hell did you do just now?" Klein asked wanting answers.

"What are you talking about?" He asked confused.

"Uh, the Dual Wielding? How did you get that?" Gary then asked.

"Oh, right." Kirito then said.

"Well, spill! That move's not even listed in the directory!" He then demanded while going through his menu.

"Honestly, I don't know it just appeared in my menu one day, don't know how exactly." Kirito just told them. "I didn't tell anyone because…"

"They'd get pissed because you had something they didn't. Not me though, but they would be jealous you also got that." Klein then said referring to the girl cling to the boy in black. "Don't worry about, keep going solider." He just said as Kirito looked away annoyed and him and his group were about to leave with Gary.

"Hey, Ash. It's been real man, but we should probably get going. I guess I'll see you around?" Gary asked holding his hand out.

"Yeah, sure." Ash said before shaking it.

"Oh, and Kirito. Don't go dying yet man, they're a lot of people still counting on you." Klein said before him and the other left.

As for Ash, he saw Asuna was still clinging to the Black Swordsman. He just stood and watch with a smile on his face, knowing that his friend was still alive and letting the two have their moment together.

(The next day)

Oct. 19, 2024 Floor 50: Algade

Ash and Kirito were with Agil who was looking at the news. "A blue demon that annihilated a large Army squad and a fifty-hit combo from a dual-wielder who took it out himself… Heh, do you see the big deal they're making out of this…" Agil said before laughing.

"Yeah, sorta blowing up in his face." Ash said smiling while feeling a little bad.

"A huge army of swordsman and info-brokers came to my front door this morning and now I need to find a new living arrangement." Kirito said annoyed.

"Well that was your fault, you did go and blab our secret to everyone." Lizbeth said entering with a box full of stuff as Kirito just looked away.

Then they heard footsteps and saw Asuna. "Guys, we've got a problem." She then said panting.

Oct. 19, 2024 Floor 55: Grandzam

The trio were now at the headquarters of the Knights of the Blood Oath, Asuna's guild with the council. "I don't believe we've meet outside of boss fights, Kirito. Nor your friend here." The man with the white hair at the council stated.

"Actually, we spoke on Floor 67, at the conference. Commander Heathcliff." Kirito said to the man.

"Yes, that was a difficult battle, wasn't it? Almost lost a few players there as well." He said to him. "We may be the top guild, but we barely get by with our number of troops. Now here you are trying to poach one of our best players. I don't know what to say at all." He said a little disappointed.

"If she's that important, maybe you should do a better job at picking bodyguards for her." Kirito then said a little annoyed at what Heathcliff was saying.

"My sincerest apologies for anything that happened with Kuradeel. But you understand we can't just leave our second in command to go on her own. If you want her, then you'll have to take her with your blades. Defeat me in combat and you may take her. But if lost, you and Ash must join the Knights of the Blood Oath." Heathcliff told them.

Ash and Asuna looked at Kirito for a second, waiting on his decision, and he just answered. "Fine then. If that's how it's going to be." He said agreeing to the duel.

To be continued…

Abridged Omake: The Livestream

" _They are, without question: A complete write off of a species, and how dare YOU MAKE ME CARE ABOUT THEEEEEEEEM!"_ Kirito yelled in the livestream video as Tiff laughed his ass off.

"OH MY GOSH! THIS IS AMAZING! You really had no idea they were livestreaming?" He asked the Black Swordsman who was annoyed while Ash tried to hold in his laughter.

"No! Obviously, if I had been privy to THAT little tidbit, I might of conducted myself in a slightly different manner." Kirito said annoyed as Lizbeth giggles.

"Oh don't worry so much, Ki. No one cares about your adorable little freak out. They're all too busy being in awe that you can hold TWO swords AT THE SAME TIME!" She then joked.

"I don't know about that, you should've seen how many women appeared trying to seduce him. Fifteen women slamming their tits into his head!" Ash then let it out.

"He is the Chosen One! As it was foretold by the scrolls!" Tiff then said as the three all started laughing.

"Yeah, yeah laugh it off." Kirito then said again annoyed.

"So, what's in the box, Pinky? What, ya rummaging through dumpsters for your next shitty masterpiece?" Ash then said being an asshole again.

"Well funny you should, this box is everything I was able to salvage from my shop after your friend Asuna…" Liz was about to say.

"Kirito, the commander wants to…" Asuna came in.

"AAAAAHHH I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING, I SWEAR!" Liz then flipped her lid running off.

"WAIT FOR ME! I KNOW A SHORTCUT!" Tiff then screamed as he followed her and the sound of a window breaking was heard while the two left there just had looks on their faces.

"… So… you were saying." Kirito then says.

Yeah, I know I kinda shorten it and skipped some parts that you guys probably like, but I couldn't really find any other way to put Ash in the chapter. I shortened it to have two episodes in it and I know Gary's probably joining Klein in the 'Characters doing absolutely nothing for the story' but I thought I could at least put more Pokémon characters in this besides Ash.

For those of you who read the last chapter: Does it sound like I'm giving Ash Kirito's harem by having the girls he doesn't pick feel more for him? If so, it was unintended, but as I said Sugu/Leafa is gonna be Ash's pairing for this story. As for his IRL name, what do you want it to be? Or what do you think it's gonna be? Let me know, follow me, keep up with my story and other stories, and maybe share them with your friends. And with that, I'm outta here.


	7. Crimson Killing Intent, Forgotten Past

**I'm back you guys! Now it may seem like I'm making the chapters shorter but that's because I really wanna get to the part where Ash meets Sugu. You guys know why, right? I'm sure you've also noticed that I'm now using bold words for the beginning, so you guys don't get it confused with being part of the story. Any who I have nothing else to say, enjoy.**

Chapter 8: Crimson Killing Intent, Forgotten Past

October 20, 2024 Floor 75: Collinia

"Are you an idiot?!" Asuna screamed as her and Ash were with Kirito as he was getting ready for his match. "How could you agree to a duel?!" She asked yelling at him.

"Hey, calm down I'm sorry. I wasn't given any other choice." Kirito said with his hands up.

"Why was I dragged into this though? What does Heathcliff want with me?" Ash asked a little annoyed.

"How am I supposed to know?" The Black-Swordsman said in retort.

"The other day when I saw your dual wielding skill, I've never seen anything like that before. Thing is, the commander has his own unique skill too." Asuna stated.

"I know, we've seen it a few times ourselves." He then says to her.

"It's called the Divine Blade, maximizes attack and defense power. Kirito, his attack is strong, yet his defense is through the roof, and his HP has never gone into the yellow." Ash explains, letting them know he knows about it. "Be careful okay, I'm not a complete solo player like you are, but I mostly fight by myself for the same reasons as you man. And if we both join the Knights of the BloodOath..." He then starts saying.

"Our solo status' will go down even further. Not that they've already been pushed aside before." Kirito then finishes for him.

"Well, what if you lose? I don't care about not being allowed to leave but I care about you two being forced to join a Guild." Asuna then asked.

"I don't plan on losing easy." He tells them as he's about to leave.

"Wait." Ash says grabbing him as he looked at him. "Good luck out there." The spiked haired boy then held his fist out as Kirito looked at it then at him.

Then he fist bumped and left to go for his match. Kirito and Heathcliff stood in front of each other while the Black-Swordsman was looking around at the crowd. This was unexpected considering this wasn't part of the idea for a fight, but when it comes to two famous players like the Black-Swordsman and the leader of the Knights of the BloodOath, people won't wanna miss it.

Ash and Asuna were watching from afar; Asuna looked worried while Ash could only hope that Kirito would come out on top. "You know, I was expecting a crowd, but this is far from what I was expecting." Kirito said as he was still looking around.

"Well, you've certainly become a beacon of hope for these people." Heathcliff exclaims.

"Maybe I can get a cut of the tickets?" The boy in black joked.

"No, but when we're finished, you and your friend will become official members of the guild. I'll consider this your first mission." The man then said as he opened his menu and sent a battle request. "Go ahead. Make, my, day." He then says as the request was accepted.

They both unsheathed their blades and stared each other down as they waited and waited… and the timer hit zero as Kirito charged forward and was bashing at his opponents shield. Then Heathcliff faked him out then almost struck him as he not blocked with his swords. While the boy was off guard he ran forward and bashed his shield into his gut sending him flying backwards.

"Wait, he can attack with his shield?" Ash asked shocked.

"Yeah, he doesn't often do it because it's not gonna do anything in a boss raid. He's got more use for his shield other than blocking." Asuna explains.

Back to the fight, Kirito charged up his sword skills in each blade as he charged forward attacking the shield before ducking and summersaulting behind his opponent, the crowd was cheering wild. They then charged against each other again and clashed blades left and right. Kirito was going at full speed while attempting to go faster with each strike as Heathcliff was keeping up with him easy, blocking each thrust from his swords.

However, the Black-Swordsman finally managed to land a cut on the commander's left cheek, then started going berserk with his swords. He finally managed to knock back the hand with his shield in it and was just about to land a strike… but then, as if in slow motion, Heathcliff somehow pulled his shield back to block… one strike to Kirito's chest and he landed on the ground with his health in the yellow.

Ash stood where he was, wide eyed at seeing his friend lose just now. The winner being Heathcliff as the crowd went wild. The commander just walked away while Kirito remained sitting where he landed, and then Asuna walked away not saying anything.

October 22, 2024 Floor 50: Algade

Ash was currently heading to his dorm in his new outfit, or so uniform for the Knights of the BloodOath. Because Kirito lost, he was also made a part of the guild and that didn't help at all. Not only that, but the uniform looked no different than his old attire, red over white and white over blue. Not to mention his scarf was now white with a red stripe going around it, and the symbol imbedded on it as well.

"Great, guess I'm gonna have to get used to wearing this." He said a little annoyed. "Man, I hope don't have this on for the rest of my time in this game." He continued to walk but then stopped as he saw that Kirito's door was open by an inch.

He took a peak inside and saw Kirito sit up on his bed, and Asuna appeared to be in front of him. "Hey, Kirito?" She asked getting his attention. "Why do you avoid guilds? Ash said that he does it for the same reasons as you do, but I'm not so sure that's even true. What are your reasons?" He stares at her for a moment then lets his head fall down. "I mean you two do care about people, so why?" She asks again.

"It was a long time ago. About a year or so…" He said as he was about to tell his story.

"I did join a guild, just once. It was a small guild, even with me there were only six players. The Moonlit Black Cats. As players they were good, but their levels were way lower than mine. I thought that if I told them my level they wouldn't want me around. So, I kept my level a secret and join them. I'd watch them mess around having fun and I guess I wanted to be part of that too… but then…"

" _SACHI!"_

Asuna looked at him wide eyed as Ash's back was against the wall. "I'm the reason the whole guild was wiped out. I could've convinced them of that trap's danger if I hadn't that I was a Beater…"

" _You never belonged in our guild!"_

"All of them… Sachi… everyone was killed because of me…" Tears began to form in Kirito's eyes after being reminded of the deaths that he had seen before his eyes.

Asuna then stood up from her chair and walked over to him and sat next to him. "I'm not gonna die." She said staring at him. "If I do die… who else is gonna protect you?" She then pulled him in for a hug comforting him.

Ash had tears streaming down his face as he was also reminded of his dark past. Then he started running back to his room.

(Flashback)

" _RED! Please! Don't go! Please!" A young Ash cried as he stood next to the hospital bed holding his big brother's hand. "Please…"_

" _S-Satoshi…" Red tried to say as he looked up._

" _RED! Please, don't go!" He continued to cry out._

" _Don't worry…" They continued to look at each other for the remaining time they had as Red took off the mask providing him with oxygen. "Satoshi… no matter where you are… no matter where you go… if you're l-looking for me…" He then pointed towards Ash's chest. "I'll always be there for you…" He smiled one last time before his body fell weak…_

 _Ash stood there looking at his brother's lifeless body as tears ran down his face. "REEEDD!"_

(Flashback over)

He laid down in down in his bed face in his pillow crying softly as he still remembered every detail of what happened. He wished it never happened, he wished he could go back and stop that day from ever happening at all, but he could never change the past. No matter how much he pretended that day never happened, he'll always remember it… as it was the day when he first lost a family member.

October 23, 2024 Floor 55: Grandzam

Kirito, Asuna and Ash were planning on having a chat this morning but… "I have to train?" The Black-Swordsman asked as a man with orange hair stood by the doorway.

"You got it. You, me and another guy are forming a party. Then we're gonna clear the dungeon on this floor." The man explained.

"Hold on, Godfree. We're already-" Asuna was saying.

"Afraid I can't do anything about it mam. Even as the Vice commander, you can't ignore the rules. They're gonna be joining us, then it's my job as commander of the frontlines to evaluate their skills. However, Ash's training is different from Kirito's, so he won't be with us for the time." The man said interrupting her.

"That's ridiculous! They don't need evaluation they're stronger than you!" Asuna said in anger.

"Kid in 30 minutes I wanna see you down at the western gate." Godfree said before left.

Asuna then sighed. "We finally had a chance to be alone." She groaned before Kirito put his hand on her head.

"I'll be back soon. Don't worry about it." He then said.

"Just be careful man, this floor hasn't been cleared yet." Ash said with some concern.

"Like I said, don't worry." He then said before he left.

Well, Ash and Asuna were alone. That hasn't happened before, the last time it was just him and her was when Kirito was busy doing grinding and whatnot, but they didn't speak to each other and they were just with the Assault Team at the time. He honestly didn't know whether he should say something or just wait for Kirito to return.

"Why do you avoid joining guilds?" Asuna then asked as he looked at her confused. "Why do you avoid guilds? Why are you a solo player as well?" She asked again as he looked down.

"It's… it's not really easy to explain." He told her.

"You said it was the same reason as Kirito but… I doubt that you really knew what he was really playing solo for." She said with a little bit of suspicion building up. He didn't answer and continued to look down. "… Never mind, you don't to tell me. I'm sorry for asking." She says feeling a little bad.

"… Because I don't want to lose anymore people I love." He mumbled as she looked at him surprised.

She then looked away. "Well… I guess you and Kirito really are like brothers, huh?" She asked before looking back at him. "Whatever the reason, whatever makes you play solo as well, I can say that your reasons are probably almost the same." She says with a bit of a smile.

"If you say so." Ash said feeling a little bit better.

(A few minutes later)

Ash was walking through the halls, still waiting for Kirito's return. It was strange, he hasn't seen him in a while, but when he thought about it, the floor they were on had a tough dungeon so, he could understand. But that was what made him a little worried, when friends are gone for too long, he figures that something is up.

"He's usually not gone for this long. Wonder if he's okay." Ash was about to open his menu to call Kirito but then…

"ASH!" He heard Asuna yell as he saw her running down the hall.

"Asuna? What's up?" He asked before she grabbed his arm and forced him to follow her.

"No time to explain, we have to go!" She says as they head off to who knows where.

Dungeon Entrance

"What's going on? Why are we headed this way?" Ash asked confused as ever as they were riding on a horse through the dungeon.

"Something's not right, Kirito's not moving on the map and I just saw Godfree disappear." Asuna said freaking out.

"What?! But I thought the monsters in the dungeon on this floor weren't near our level. How's that possible?" He asked even more confused.

"They could've been ambushed, *activates search skill* I'm gonna check to see if there're anymore-*Gasp*!" She then stopped.

"What?" Ash then turns on his search skill and sees that there's another player with a sword walking to where Kirito was. "Who is that?" He asked not knowing who the player was.

"Kuradeel…" Asuna then said with disgust.

"That guy that Kirito fight on Calmdet?" He asked as he remembered what he was told about him.

Kuradeel then walks over to Kirito and holds his sword up as he was ready to stab him. "No!" Asuna says as Ash looked at her. "NOOO!" She then yells as she jumps off the horse and uses a sword skill to send Kuradeel flying into a wall.

"Holly crap." Ash then said as he hopped off the horse and then looked down at Kirito.

Then Asuna ran up Kirito with a healing crystal panicking. "HEAL!" She screamed quickly as the Black-Swordsman's health was brought back up. "We made it…" She then said panting. "We made it…"

"How long were you watching his position on the map for?" The spiked-hair boy asked.

"The entire time. And when Godfree disappeared I got worried something happened." She explained. "But… you're alive… am I dreaming?" She asked herself.

"You're not." Kirito said looking up at her.

"Damnit can't believe this happened." Ash said as he went through his menu looking for an antidote, then Kuradeel was getting back up.

Asuna looked at him in rage as she got up. "Let me take care of this." She said darkly as she started walking towards him taking out her rapier.

"N-n-n-n-no, Asuna, we were just training when I-" Kuradeel was cut short when she cut his cheek causing him to stumble backwards. "YOU!" He then swung his sword missing.

Then Asuna started spamming him causing a great amount of damage and pain, making him drop his sword. "O-okay, I surrender! Please, SPARE ME!" He yelled getting on his knees. "I'll leave the guild, you'll never see me again! I PROMISE!" He screamed begging for mercy.

Ash had just found the antidote crystal and used it on Kirito, then he saw Asuna with Kuradeel. She held her rapier to his head, she was gonna draw it back, but then a smile appeared on his face. Then Ash found out and quickly started running. As soon as he knocked her sword, Ash jumped and flipped and the moment Kuradeel saw him… *SLASH* He was then behind the man's beheaded body.

After this happened though, Ash fell to the ground breathing heavily and sweating. He just killed someone… just did what he hoped to never do… He quickly shook his head and forced himself to stop thinking about it and stood back up. He had no choice, if he hadn't, Asuna would've been dead. Did what was wrong in order to do what's right, that's all he needs to know.

Speaking of which though. He looked behind him and saw Kirito with Asuna on their knees in front of each other. Kirito had his arms around her and she had her arms around him as they were… well no more words were to be said. Ash saw them and felt happy for them. In the end he murdered, but he also saved.

'Brother… father… if only you were still here. If only I could see how you're looking at me right now.'

To be continued…

 ***Sniff* O-okay… I really made feels for this chapter didn't I… *Wheeze*… I even managed to make myself cry… Okay enough, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Short? I know, most of the chapters for my stories are like this nowadays. Thanks for reading and stay tuned cause next time, Ash is gonna meet Yui.**


	8. The Girl of Morning Dew, Yui's Heart

**Time for some more of Swordsman's Ashes. Now last time was short and that's how most of my current chapters now are being. Why? School. That's why. I'm still in this place and it makes it harder to do longer chapters. Let's just get into this.**

Ash was training with Kirito and Asuna on Floor 55 fighting through the dungeon in separate places as a way of fighting solo. They were taking out the monsters really quick despite the floor was supposed to have high leveled creatures. Ash wasn't complaining that the monsters were as strong as their levels though, since he wasn't really looking forward to having a hard time after what he did.

He still hasn't gotten over the fact that he just killed someone, but the idea that he also saved his friend in doing so was what kept him from regretting his decision. But he wouldn't always be there to help, he can't keep saving Kirito or Asuna if they keep getting into situations like this, and Kirito almost died twice in one week. All he could do was hope they'd get strong enough to last their own.

October 24, 2024 Floor 55: Grandzam

"What? Already?" Ash asked Heathcliff confused.

"I know it's as little early, but from what I've just heard from your fellow combatants, I'm allowing you a temporary absence from the guild along with Kirito and Asuna. Surely you won't mind, correct?" The man states.

"I don't have a problem with it." Kirito tells him.

"With the current state of the guild anyway, we're gonna need time to think." Asuna then states.

"Very well." Heathcliff says not having a problem. "Although… I'm positive you won't stay away from the battlefield for too long." He then says suspiciously as Ash got a bad vibe from it.

'What's that supposed to mean?' He thought to himself.

October 25, 2024 Floor 22

Ash, Kirito and Asuna were on Floor 22 staying in a small house. "You guys sure I won't be an issue? I'm kind of a third wheel here." Ash states.

"It's no trouble at all, besides we are kind of like the three musketeers." Asuna jokes/giggles.

"Heh, yeah. All for one and one for all, right?" Kirito then jokes as well as the three then laugh together.

"Yeah, it's good to have friends at your side at least." The spiked haired boy states before opening his menu to take a look at the news as the couple went out onto the balcony to enjoy the view.

Ash envied their relationship and congratulated them on getting married… virtually that is. He's known and become great friends with the two ever since the Safe Zone murder mystery and now they in both the assault team and the Knights of the Bloodoath. He was starting to look forward to meeting them in the real world and getting to know their real names. If anything, he never regretted going into SAO and this was his very reason.

Ash was going through the news article and spotted something that caught his attention. "What the heck?" He said confused.

"What's up?" Kirito asked as him and Asuna came back inside and looked at the article as well.

Apparently, someone caught the boy with the two and because of that, he was the next to gain a title: making him… "Swordsman's Ashes? What kind of name is that?" He asked confused.

"I think it sounds kind of cool." The black-haired boy told him.

"I guess now that you're working with us they decided to give you a little name as well." The orange haired girl says with a smile.

"Yeah, but… why that of all names?" Ash had to ask.

"Well, your name here is Ash so…" Kirito says not really knowing what to tell him.

"It really does suit you though." Asuna then tells him.

Ash tried to think of something to say but he was lost at words. He didn't know whether to feel proud of his newly formed title or very, very confused as to why he got that name. Kirito was the Black-Swordsman which made sense because of his thing for black and Asuna was Lightning-Flash because of her impressive speed, so why was he called Swordsman's Ashes?

Chapter 9: The Girl of Morning Dew

While the couple shared their own room, Ash slept on the couch to give them privacy. While they did have a second bed, the boy simply declined since he didn't really want to ruin their time together. During the past few days on their break, they had a lot of fun spending time together even if one was the third wheel of the trio.

"Hey Ash, we're going out." Asuna says as her and Kirito were at the door.

"We'll be back in a little bit." Kirito then states.

"Okay, have fun you two." Ash says while on the couch as the two left. "Off another date, why am I not surprised." He then says with a smile before going through the news article again.

Again, he found something having to do with him being called Swordsman's Ashes. He was so confused as to how he got that title in the first place, unless one of Gary or someone else said something about his name being Ash, it really did make any sense. Was it really just a joke being that his in-game name was Ash? For all he knew, he wasn't gonna find out the reason he was called that ever.

He thought maybe he could talk to Gary or meet up with Liz or Silica and spend some time with them but then… the thought of Heathcliff came to mind, which confused him. Then again when he thought about it, Heathcliff did sound somehow familiar, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

*BANG* "AHH!" Ash jumped and snapped from his thoughts when he heard the door get slammed open and looked to see Kirito and Asuna run by with something in one of the two's arms. "What the?"

(…)

Apparently when Kirito and Asuna were out, they found a little girl in the forest by herself and she suddenly past out. This led the duo to take her back to the cabin and make sure she was safe, which Ash couldn't really believe at first.

"Lost in the forest?" Ash asked confused.

"Yeah, that's where we found her." Kirito told him.

"I see." The boy took a closer look. "No cursor, huh? That's odd." He said seeing nothing above the little girl's head.

"Well, one thing's for sure. She's not an NPC since moving her here wasn't any trouble." The black-haired boy told him.

"Yeah, that is true. She would have given you a warning the moment you picked her up, as if being harassed." Asuna then states.

"She has to be a player, she's probably been out there for a while. Lost by herself, that's gotta be it." Kirito states as well.

"Then what was she doing out there by herself?" The orange haired girl asks.

"I know, she should have had parents when logging in though. I don't think they'd just let their own child play a game like this by themselves." Ash then states.

"Yeah, unless they were…" Kirito stopped before he could say anymore. "Nevermind."

"… Hey, do you think she'll wake up?" Asuna then asks.

"Yeah, if she hasn't disappeared, she's still alive." The black-haired boy tells her.

"Well, if she's in a sleep mode… or something, she should hopefully wake up." Ash says trying to reassure them.

(Later that night)

The little girl slept in Kirito and Asuna's room in the spare bed and Ash was out on the couch still wondering how and why she was in SAO. 'She had to have someone enter with her, I don't think parents would be so mean as to just let their child into a game like this by herself, especially with the rating. Unless her parents are stupid and didn't check the rating for this game, I wouldn't be surprised.' He thought to himself.

'Did her family let her get logged in by herself, or did they log in to and got-' Ash immediately twitched when the thought of something happening to her parents came to mind. 'NO! No don't think that! I don't want to believe that happened.' He quickly tried to make himself not think about that possibility.

'But, even so…' He laid down on the couch tried to get some sleep, but not before a tear fell down his face.

(Next day)

Ash woke up while still a little drowsy before he decided to check and see how the girl was doing. When he entered he saw Kirito and Asuna at the bed they put her in so he went over and saw that the girl was awake.

"Thank goodness you woke up. Do you remember what happened to you?" Asuna said while helping the girl sit up. At first, she looked down then shook her head saying no. "Okay, what about your name?" The orange haired girl proceeded to ask her.

"N-name… Y-Yui…" Was all the poor girl could say.

"That's a cute name." Asuna says as the three of them look at her with a smile on her face. "I'm Asuna, this Kirito and Ash." She then introduced the rest of them.

"A-Auna? Kito? Ahh?" Yui says unable to pronounce their names.

"Can you remember? What were you doing in the forest? Do you know where your mom and dad are?"

The poor girl looked down thinking then said… "… I-I don't know…" She tells them as they start to feel bad.

"Oh, boy. That's not good." Ash said now lost on what to do.

"Hello, Yui." Kirito just sat on her bed. "You can call me Kirito. If you want." He then tells her.

"Kito?" She asks confused.

"Maybe it's a little hard to say. Whatever is easier for you, you can call me that." He then says after patting her head.

Yui looks down at first then back at Kirito. "Pa…pa." She then says as the boy got shocked at so. She then turned to Asuna. "Auna… Mama…" She then suddenly said as the older girl gasped.

Then she turned to Ash. "Ahh… Uncle…" She says as he was also shocked.

"…Alright… I'm mommy." Asuna then says with a smile as Yui smiles happily.

"Mommy!" She says as she jumped into her arms. "Mommy, daddy, uncle!" She says with glee as the orange haired girl picks her up laughing.

"You must be hungry. Let's have breakfast." She then says as the little girl giggles.

(Later that morning)

After getting introduced and somehow adopted into a family, the four of them were now in the Livingroom enjoying the rest of the morning. Kirito and Ash were looking at the news again, and Ash's title was spreading as fast as Kirito and Asuna's did. He could only hope that he wasn't gonna have people swarming at the door to ask him questions and stuff.

"Here you go, Yui. This is your breakfast." Asuna says walking over with a plate of food.

But Yui was just staring at what the Black-Swordsman was eating and said boy seemed to notice. "I don't know Yui, this is a little spicy." He tells her with a smile.

She then thinks before she says. "I want what daddy is eating." She then says holding her hands out cutely.

'Oh boy, he better not…' Ash thought to himself sweating.

"If you think you're ready, I'm not gonna stop you. Gotta try new things, right?" Kirito then hands her another one of what he was as the other two were shocked at what he was doing.

She took a bite of the sandwich and chews for a bit before swallowing then looks up with an upset look. "I-it's good." She then faked.

"Iron stomach, huh? We can do a full course of extra-spicy food tonight." Kirito says proud.

"C'mon, you're just spoiling her now." Ash says to him with a frown.

"Yeah, I am not cooking anything nuclear." Asuna then scoffs looking.

"You heard her."

"You heard her?"

Kirito and Yui then shared a laugh as Asuna smiled from their fun while Ash just eye-smiled for them. Some time later Ash was in a chair with Yui on his lap sleeping as he pets her head happily.

"So, what do you think we do?" Asuna then asked.

"Dunno. She doesn't seem to remember anything." Kirito then says before his wife starts to tear up. "Asuna?" He asked concerned.

"Nothing, it's just… she's not really our child and… when I think about how much her real parents must miss her… must be worried sick for her… and she… she doesn't even remember them…" She says through her sobs.

"I get it, you want to take care of her until she gets her memory back. Right?" He then asks her.

"Yeah, but…" She tried to say.

"It's a dilemma, I know. Once we clear the game, that should take enough time for her to get her memory back." Ash then told her.

"Let's just do what we can for her, now." Kirito says looking at the little girl. "Though, she doesn't appear to have armor, so she probably stays away from the fields much. First thing we should check is the town of beginnings, I heard there was an orphanage there." He then suggested.

"Technically, it's not really an orphanage. All those kids there have parents in the real world." Ash then corrects him.

"Still, maybe we can find her family there." The Black-Swordsman states.

"…Okay…" Asuna then states clutching her fists.

"I know, I don't want to say goodbye to her ether." Kirito then goes over and holds her hand. "I don't know how to explain it but having her here has made this place feel like a real home. It's not like we won't see her again, but if she's got a family and/or guardian, then we can't keep her." He tells her. Standing up.

"Right… once she wakes up we'll search the town of beginnings." Asuna then says getting up as well.

"That place has turned into an army territory from the past years, so we should have our weapons at our side at least." Ash then says unable to get up with Yui in his lap.

Then she changes positions to sit closer. "Mama… Papa… Uncle…" She said cutely in her sleep which brought smiles to their faces.

October 31, 2024 Floor 1: Town of Beginnings

The four had just teleported down to the first floor and were ready to begin their search. "It's been forever since I've been back here." Kirito states as the place was deserted.

"Same here." Asuna says as well before they get a flashback of Kayaba explaining the game.

"I still remember the day this game started, and I don't think I ever will forget it." Ash says while also being reminded of SAO's launch.

"Well, do any of these look familiar to you Yui?" The Lightning-Flash asks the little girl on Kirito's back.

Yui takes a look before shaking her head again. "I don't know." She then tells her before looking upset again.

"Don't get down about it, the Town of Beginnings is really big." Kirito then reassures her.

They started off at the central market, since it was the first place to go. "Hey, uh guys?" Asuna begins to ask. "Do you know how many players are here?" She asked them.

"Don't really know for sure. Is there a way to find out?" Ash then asked.

"Last I checked there were about six thousand players still in SAO. From what I read, about thirty percent are in the Town of Beginnings, those including the Army… Can't say for sure, but I think less than two thousand at best." Kirito then tells him.

"Right, but it seems a little dead down here." Asuna states as the only thing they could see where NPCs selling stuff.

"Well, that could just be because no one would come back down here. I mean, usually in games, you don't go back to earlier levels because the monsters are too weak for grinding and the shops are selling merch for starters. Least, that's how most gamers are." Ash then tells them as they come to a stop.

Only a few seconds and… "LEAVE THOSE CHILDREN ALONE!" A female voice yelled out catching their attention.

"Hey, the daycare bitch! Been waiting for ya." Another voice says as they head to the scene.

"Leave them alone!" A woman with brown hair yelled at members of the Aincrad Liberation Army.

"You're making it sound as though we're doing illegal work, babe." One of them says with a smile. "We're teaching these kids how things work around here, paying and everything." He continued to tell her.

"Yep, everyone pays taxes around here, it's just duties." Another tells her.

"Ginn, Cain, Mina, are you okay?!" The woman yells over.

"Help miss Sasha!" One of them yelled back.

"Just give them your money that's all they want!" She yelled over to them.

"We tried, they said it wasn't enough!" Another yells.

"You deadbeats owe us more in back taxes." One of them told her.

"That means dropping your equipment and your armor too… And I mean every last piece." He tells her with a perverted smile.

"You bastards…" Sasha growled under her breath. "Let me through!" She yelled at them before a certain group of people jumped over them and got in between the kids and them.

"Don't worry kids, go on and pick up your gear." Asuna said in a sweet voice as the three kids nodded and did what she said.

"What the?... Who the hell are you?" One of them yelled

"This is army business! Get the hell out of our way!"

"Let me take care of this." One of them said walking up front. "You must be new in town… We're with the Liberation Army, got it?!" He continued to say unsheathing his blade.

"Kirito, Ash, keep an eye on the kids." Asuna told them as she walked forward.

"Right." Kirito just responded.

Asuna then unsheathed her rapier. "Tch, please. What are you gonna-?" The man said smugly before…

The Lightning-Flash charged a skill up and struck, completely shattering his blade into tiny pieces that disappeared as he went flying back. She then charged up another skill striking him again and sending him farther back. Everyone was in awe as they saw her beat him just like that.

"Hmph, I honestly am surprised they let someone like you into such a guild. You should know that even in a Safe Zone you feel pain, whether your HP drops or not!" She then tells him as he tried to crawl away only to get blasted again.

"D-don't just stand there! DO SOMETHING!" The man yelled at his group.

But then Kirito got a stern look on his face. "Ash, here." He said handing Ash Yui.

He then walked up beside Asuna also unsheathing his sword. The man took one look at them and that was enough to make them run away screaming their asses off. After that, the couple sheathed their blades back and looked to the kids. They looked in awe at first, but then…

"That was so cool!" One of them yelled as the three ran up to them-Mostly Asuna- and began going on about how cool they were, even the woman who was taking care of them thanked them.

"Well, they're your parents Yui. What do you think so far?" Ash then asked but his 'niece' but didn't get a response. "Hmm? Yui?" He asked before seeing that she was focused on something else.

"Their hearts…" She then reached up to the sky. "Everyone's hearts…"

"Y-Yui?" He asked confused. Kirito and Asuna seemed to notice and looked worried. "Yui, what's wrong?" Ash asked again as she kept repeating something about hearts.

"Yui, did you remember something?" Asuna asked concerned as she made her way over with Kirito.

"I… I…" Then she screeched and then a loud garbled noise began erupted and then parts of the area were glitching out like crazy.

Yui then falls unconscious as Kirito and Asuna run to her worried, and the noise and glitching finally stopped as the three were in shocked of what just happened. What just happened? Why did Yui suddenly scream like that? And what about the glitch that happened in the area.

 **It's time to read a review.**

From Yui14 on Chapter 7: Yui is an important thing to me, obviously. If I am to keep reading your fanfiction, Yui must still be Kirito and Asuna's child, and must not die permanently. Seriously. And also good chapter it worked and we know Kurundeel or however it's spelt would have died anyways but it's a nice touch to make the story somewhat different, good job. Are you also going to do second season, ordinal scale, will you do the third one comming out? Tell us maybe if you will or not in the comments next chapter?

 **Wow, that's long. As you saw, Kirito and Asuna are still Yui's parents with the exception that Ash is her Uncle. And yes, I do plan on doing the second season, but I don't know for sure about Ordinal Scale. Not that didn't enjoy Ordinal Scale, it's just that I didn't get the same vibe as I did from the previous seasons.**

 **I might do Ordinal Scale, I might not, but who knows am I right? Anyway, continuing.**

November 1, 2024 Floor 1: Town of Beginnings

All the kids in the orphanage were eating lunch now and were enjoying the food on the table. "T-there's a lot of them, huh?" Kirito said while sitting at a table with the group.

"It's like this every day. By the way, is Yui feeling better?" Sasha asked.

"Well, she got a goodnight sleep so I'm sure she's doing fine." The Black-Swordsman states as Yui is eating her food looking so cute~.

 **Okay, Yui is adorable! She's adorable and I love her.**

"Has this happened before?" The teacher asks.

"We honestly don't have any idea. We found her on Floor 22 in the forest, poor girl lost her memories." Asuna tells her. "That's the reason we came here." She tells her again. Then Yui hands her, her food still looking adorable.

"Yeah, we thought someone might know her in the Town of Beginnings." Ash tells her as Asuna takes the bread and pats Yui who giggles.

 **Okay! I demand more Yui in SAO, she is just so-**

Guy in the Audience: FINISH THE STORY! *Throws his shoe*

 **WOAH! Okay! Fine! Geez…**

"You live here right? Have you ever seen her before?" Kirito asked.

"No, sorry. I haven't, there are a lot of kids in town, but I've never seen her before." Sasha tells them before explaining. "When the game started, a lot of the children have suffered terrible trauma. That's why I moved into this church making it a safe place for them to live."

"I come through the town every day looking for kids that are lost like this. Except, I've never seen someone like her." She tells them.

"Well, it was worth a shot." Ash states as him and his friends let their heads down until they heard a knock at the door.

(…)

"Sorry to bother you, my name is Yulier." A woman with dark grey hair stood at the front of them.

"With the army, right?" Ash asks her.

"I hope you're not here to cause trouble." Asuna then states.

"N-no, I swear. I'm here to thank you, you did right by putting those men in their place." The woman tells them. "Actually, when I heard about you three being here, I came to ask for your help." She then tells them as they seemed puzzled.

Chapter 10: Yui's Heart

All of them sat at a table in the church talking as Yui seemed to have trouble staying awake. "When we formed the guild we… well, actually it was our leader, Thinker. He never wanted it to become what it is now. At first we were to share information and rations evenly among as much players as possible. But, then it got too big and after much conflict, one man become very powerful. A man named Kibou."

When she told them as Kirito and Ash flinched at the mention of the man's name. _"BETA TESTER?! They're the reason we're stuck in this game!"_

"Kibaou and his group started becoming stronger and stronger, monopolizing all the best spawn points and are going so far as to extort people under the pretext of collecting taxes. I'm sure it's obvious that Kibaou doesn't care of clearing the game, which angered most of the people." Yulier continues to tell them.

'Damn, bastard.' Ash thought to himself while trying to hold his anger in.

"Because of this, he sent the highest-level players we had to his command under the frontlines." Hearing that made them remember Corvetz from the battle with the Gleam-Eyes. "He of course was denounced after what he did, that was the last straw and we started planning on kicking him out… but of course, once he heard about this, he set up a trap with a Warp Crystal sending Thinker deep inside a dungeon." Yulier then looked down.

"What? But he should have a teleport crystal, shouldn't he?" Kirito then asked confused.

"No, before used the warp crystal to send him away, he hired a bandit to snatch his items before then. That happened about a day ago." She tells them.

"What? But he should at least be able to find his way out." Asuna then states.

"This dungeon is the highest level we've seen so far. Even with his weapons, he can't get out on his own. The problem is that I'm still at a low level and can't reach him." She then starts to look more upset. "And with Kibaou influencing the rest of the guild, we can't take the army. So, once I heard about you three in town I tracked you down to get your help." She then stood up. "I beg of you, please help me save Thinker." She then bows.

Kirito and Asuna looked at each other for a moment. "Look we'd be glad to help, but we need to know that you're telling the truth." Asuna then tells her.

"I'm sorry, I know I'm asking too much of you, but please… For as long as he trapped in there I…" Yulier then began to cry.

When Ash saw this, he began to see her pain and made a decision. "…I'm going." He then said as he got up and the other gave him a puzzled look. "I can't sit here and let this continue. If Kibaou is keeping us from clearing this game and getting back to the real world, then I'm not letting him do so." He then stated.

"Hold on Ash, you don't know if she's-" Kirito gets cut off.

"I don't care if I don't know. If she's telling the truth or not, I'd rather help her and deal with whatever's gonna happen then regret it later. So, are you with me or not?" He then said looking at Kirito with a serious expression as the others were in awe seeing the boy's courage.

"Uncle?" Yui says tugging on his sleeve.

He looked down at her and stared at her eyes for a second. "Alright then." He heard Kirito say. "I guess we're off to save Thinker." He then says.

"You're coming?" Ash asked as his friend was just saying how he didn't believe Yulier earlier.

"Well, we're a team and we stick together. We're not gonna stop you but we're also not letting you go alone." Asuna then tells him. "We'll do what we can. Don't worry." She then tells Yulier as she wipes her tears away.

"Thank you so much, you don't know how much this means to me." She then tells them.

"I know what it feels like to want to save someone, especially someone you care about so much." The orange-haired girl tells her with a smile.

"Before we go though, there are some people I think might help." Ash tells them.

"Yui, you can stay here and-" Kirito says while patting his 'daughter's' head.

"No! I'm coming too!" Yui suddenly said.

"Come on Yui, you can stay here with me." Sasha then tells her.

"NO!" The little girl then says getting stubborn.

"Yui, please, this is too dangerous. You can't come along with us." Asuna tries to tell her.

Yui then laches onto Kirito. "I'm going too!"

Floor 1: Town of Beginnings Black Iron Castle

The group was Ash, Kirito, Asuna, Yulier, Yui, Klein, Gary, Agil, Lisbeth and Silica. After hearing what happened there was some jealously between Klein and Gary that Kirito and Asuna were 'parents' to a certain someone. While Lis and Silica didn't know what to think.

"So, let me get this straight: This Kibaou was just some guy who ranted about how we shouldn't be trusting Beta-Testers, and now here he is causing trouble with the Army? The hell is wrong with that guy?" Klein asked confused and annoyed.

"Yeah, ya got it." Kirito tells him as they were walking.

"Honestly, I didn't really think he'd go so far as to do this. This is beyond what I expected from him." Agil states.

"This guy sounds like a total nut case. What does he think he's achieving doing any of these?" Lisbeth asks confused.

"I know, you think he'd make a guild called the Anti-Beta-Testers or something, but this? This guys must seriously need some mental help right about now." Gary then points out his opinion.

"I don't know, from just the sounds I don't want to be near this guy one bit." Silica says as Pina squeaks in agreement.

"Well, he's certainly picked a scary place to trap this Thinker guy." Lisbeth says uneasy as they come to a stop.

"I know. To think, there was a dungeon under the first floor the entire time." Asuna then states.

"I know, this wasn't in Beta-Test at all. I'm impressed that Kibaou was able to able to find it." Kirito then tells them.

"This dungeon opens more up the more floors are cleared. I'm sure Kibaou was planning to keep this to himself." Yulier explains.

"Exclusive access to spawn points that can be lucrative… I wouldn't be surprised after hearing everything about this guy." Gary points out.

"Right, but there only seems to be monsters as powerful as level 60. I doubt he'd do much hunting." The woman explains before they continue on. "This is the entrance." She says as they stare towards a long way down stairs.

When they saw the way down, Klein and Gary looked nervous and Silica moved a little closer to Ash. They made their way down the steps and there wasn't very much to their relief. But then they came to a stop when they notice monsters beginning to spawn in the cave.

"Oh boy, get ready guys." Kirito says as he readies his weapons as do the others, except Asuna who had Yui.

They all then charged at the monster taking them down with ease as Yui was watching with glee. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you, your friends seem to be doing all the work." Yulier tells Asuna.

"Oh no, don't worry. Besides, it's a great get together for us." Asuna then tells her.

Then Yulier opens her menu and map for Thinker. "Thinker hasn't moved from that one spot, must be in a Safe Zone.

"Aw, man, that's just what I needed today." Klein said as they just finished clearing out the monsters.

"No kidding, this was a great work out." Gary then says after having a blast.

"And they dropped some items too." Kirito tells them.

"Really?" Asuna asks curious.

"Don't ask, it's nothing good." Ash warned her but Kirito already opened his menu then pulled out some kind of frog leg.

"DAH! What is that?!" Asuna asked shocked, as were the others disgusted.

"Scavenge-Toad meat." The boy in black tells her.

"Those frogs?!" She asks again.

"Yeah, the weirder the meat the better the taste. I was hoping you could cook it and maybe-" Kirito was saying until…

"NOT IN YOUR LIFE!" Asuna says before grabbing the leg and throwing it as it shattered destroyed.

"What the hell?! What was that for?!" Kirito yelled annoyed. "Gh… Whatever!" He then turned away. "What am I supposed to do with these?!" He yelled again before turning back with a whole bunch as Asuna kept screaming and throwing the legs.

The others were watching the two bicker as though they really were a married couple with awkward looks on their faces. "Yeah, those two were made for each other." Aigil says.

"And I imagine you deal with this everyday?" Gary asks.

"More or less." Ash just says.

(Moving on)

"Well, here we are… at a fork in the road." Gary says annoyed as they were at what he said they're at.

"Three paths, which one do we take?" Lisbeth asked looking confused.

"Well, what now?" Klein asked not knowing what to do.

"No clue, but our best bet is to probably split up." Kirito suggested as Lis say an opportunity.

"Alright, then I'm with Ash." She says before hooking an arm around his arm.

"Okay, I'm gonna stick with Ash too. He is the first guy I met when at the start of this game after all." Gary then states as Lis pouts for some reason.

"Hey, Agil, Silica, wanna take this path?" Klein then asks.

"Sure, I'm down." Agil responds.

"Um…" Silica takes a look at Ash, and decided… "Actually, I want to go with Ash as well." She then says.

"You sure?" Kirito asks.

"Of course, I mean… Ash helped me out when I didn't know what to do at the beginning of the game, so I want to help him." She then says as Ash smiles remembering the time he helped her out.

"Well, okay then, guess me Asuna and Yulier are gonna take a path as well. Along with Yui of course. Good luck." Kirito says before his group goes down a path.

"Come on." Gary says as he yanks on Ash coat for a second.

"Alright." He says before going down his route.

"Man, those two are lucky." Klein says with a bit of jealously as him and Agil take a path.

(Later on)

Ash and his group were walking for a while and… "We've found nothing so far. I'm starting to think we took the wrong path." Gary says a little disappointed.

"I know, my legs are killing me!" Lis groans. "How could walk so far and not get tired Ash?" She then asked.

"Well, it's a thing I'm known to do IRL. I take a lot of walks and sometimes go around town a bit." Ash tells them.

"Oh, I see." Gary states.

"Maybe we should turn back? If we're not really finding anything here, then maybe the others have." Silica suggested as Pina made another noise.

Then they found another path. "Another one, are you kidding me?" The brown-haired boy a tad annoyed. "Do we have to split up again?" He continued to complain.

"I don't think so." Ash says as they looked confused for a moment before…

"Seriously, I don't get how Ash got popular just for being with Kirito and Asuna. You get what I'm saying?" They heard Klein's voice.

"Can we talk about something else?" Agil said as they started to appear from the dark.

"Well, what do you want to talk about th…" they stopped when the saw the other group in front of them.

"Two paths leading the same way. There's a surprise for ya." Ash exclaims.

"You gotta be kidding me. So, it didn't matter which path? What kind of a dungeon is this?" Klein states annoyed.

"That is pretty odd." Lisbeth states.

"Well, I'm not complaining. That means we don't need to go all the way back to see what the others find." Gary says before he continues walking.

"Hang on." Ash says stopping him. "Somethings not right here." He then said before scanning the area for players.

He was taking a second but… "Weapons out!" He then yelled before drawing his sword and blocking an attack from a player with an orange cursor.

This got the others' attention and they took out their weapons as more orange players appeared and attacked them. The group were holding their own against the opposing group, surprised at first but was able to keep them off. Ash kicked back one of the players before looking forward and spotting Kibaou standing there glaring at him before walking away into the darkness.

"Get back here!" He yelled out going after him.

"Ash, where are you-?" Gary tried to ask but had to block players attack.

After a while of running he finally caught up and saw Kibaou standing just a few feet away before turning to look at him. "I heard about what happened and what you've been doing this entire time. I might've also meet a few of your friends back at the First Floor." He states glaring at him.

"Tch… You even now you Beta-Testers are still a nuisance." Kibaou spat.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Why would you do this? You're keeping us from escaping this hell hole!" Ash yelled at him.

"You think I care, that I should give a damn?! I've had just about enough of you!" The man then takes out his mace before charging at the boy who dodges then their weapons clashed into a lock.

"I don't understand. What are you getting out of this?!" The boy demanded for an answer.

"What do I get out of this?!" The man yelled back as they started clashing weapons back and forth. "In the real world, I couldn't do anything I was able to do here in this game. Here I have power!" Kibaou declares as he still kept fighting Ash.

"With all this strength and control, and after everything I went through to get it… You want me THROW IT ALL AWAY?!" He swung as the boy summersaulted behind him then they continued their fight. "I'm not letting any of this go, and if it means that you all have to remain in here with me, that you're gonna die down here then SO BE IT!"

"You're insane, you've lost it!" Ash kicks Kibaou in the gut.

"Just shut up and die already!" The man swung one more time as Ash ducked and clenched his fist before sucker punching him then charging up a skill.

"Aura's Burst!" He yelled before bringing it down on him and sending the man flying and skitting across the hall landing on his back. "Alright." Ash says as he walks up to him getting a glare. "Tell me, where's Thinker?" He then demanded.

"You wanna know where he is?" Kibaou asked before starting to laugh. "Fool, by time you find him your pitiful friend of Beater will be long dead." He said as Ash got confused. "I figured at some point he would be asked to go save him, that's why I picked this dungeon." He continued to explain as Ash put a foot on his chest.

"What are you talking about? What did you do?" He demanded again.

"Heh… you still don't get it. The boss here is Fatal Scythe, never been beaten before, and is the highest level boss yet to be found. That boss has such a high level that no one with an identification skill as strong as that Beater's can detect it." He said with a grin as Ash looked shocked.

"… N-no…" Was what he mumbled.

"You can go save him but by time you get there it will already be too late-!" Kibaou says once more before getting kicked in the face going unconscious as the boy ran off.

"Kirito! Asuna!" He screamed out before seeing them up ahead in front of what looks like a giant grim reaper as they were on the ground and Yui was in front of them. As he saw its name was Fatal Scythe, it rose its scythe… "NOOOOO!" Then brought it down before getting suddenly blocked by some barrier, the text immortal object appearing above Yui.

"Huh?" Ash stopped when he saw this and looked confused. "W-what?"

The little girl then suddenly started floating and held her hand out as some kind of sword in flames appeared in her hands. All this did was bring more confusion before she rose it above her then brought it down on the boss. Sparks began flying just before the sword brought through and completely destroyed the boss leaving nothing.

"I'm sure you must have a few questions." Yui says as they were now in a safe zone room. "As you have probably guessed by now, I'm not a normal player. I am, in fact, a highly advanced artificial intelligence designed to psychologically evaluate and care for the players of Sword Art Online… Designation: Yui." She then tells them as they got shocked.

"You… you're a program?... an AI?" Asuna asked in disbelief.

"Indeed, that is why I was so distraught when, on the day of the game's launch, the Cardinal System made by Akihiko Kayaba locked me away and forbade me to interact with the players. And I was forced to sit and watch, day after day constantly bombarded by the pain and anger of all the people I could not help, I gradually fell into despair." She told them as they started to feel bad for her.

"Then… I found you three. Players with mental parameters that were vastly different from anything I've seen amongst the others… Joy and peace… and something more. Everything I knew about human relationships had was concerned with death, but no matter what… your bonds kept getting stronger and that's when I decided my information as flawed." She continues to tell them.

"Also, that I needed to amend it first-hand. All I wanted to do was know what love was… Wanted you to show me…" Yui then started to gain tears in her eyes. "I-I'm sorry I lied… I inserted myself into your lives merely to satisfy my own curiosity. Ate first… anyway… It was nice to be a part of your family…" She then held her hands out. "I… I wish I really was!" She then began to sob out.

"You will be a part of our family… we'll be together forever." Asuna says after running to hug her.

"Yeah, your our child… nothing will change that." Kirito says also joining the hug.

Ash stood there before wiping his eyes and about to join the hug until… "It's too late." Yui suddenly said as the hug broke. "In order to delete that boss earlier, I needed to hack into this admin console. By now, the system will have targeted me as a foreign entity. It's gonna track down my code and… delete me." She told them.

"What?! NO!" Asuna yells out.

"You're kidding. Th-there's gotta be a way to stop it! The console's right here so can't-" Kirito said getting worried.

"It is okay. Daddy, Mommy, Uncle… thank you… but this is goodbye." Yui says shedding more tears.

"No! No there's gotta be a way!" Ash shouted as tears started to form in his eyes.

"… NO! I don't want that! Please stay with us, we… we… just started…" Asuna was choking on her words as she hugged Yui.

"No, please!" Kirito yelled grabbing her hand.

"Always so kind and generous… please, go and help people in my place. Share your happiness…" She continued to tell them.

"I can't… you can't go, please stay!" Asuna said tightening her grip.

"Don't be sad Mommy." Yui's hand goes over her mother's cheek as she began to disappear.

Then she faded away… upon which caused Asuna to break down and sob loudly as Ash fells to his knees and tears began to fall from his face but Kirito looks angry. "Damnit, Kayaba!" He then yells before going to the console and began running his fingers all over the virtual keyboard. "If you think you can do this to us, you're gonna regret it!" He yelled as he started hacking the system as best as he could.

"K-Kirito… what're…" Ash didn't know what to say as him and Asuna were confused.

"This console is still unlocked by Yui, if I'm fast enough…" He said as a screen appears and showed something that looked to be loading before a bright flash knocked him back and to the ground.

"Kirito!" Ash and Asuna said in unison.

"Are you o-" Then the boy got cut off by Kirito holding something to them.

Asuna took it and looked confused as it looked like a rain drop yet with some kind of glass shaped like a heart around it. "W-what?" She asked confused.

"I was lucky enough to get that done quick. I saved Yui's data to my NerveGear as an in-game object. Once we beat this game, if I'm able to, I should be able to extract her data. Then… we can be a family for real." Kirito told them with a smile as the rest of them smiled with tears going down their faces.

"Thank you!" Asuna then jumped at him sobbing uncontrollably.

Ash was happy that Yui was still alive as well, he was glad that one day he'd finally meet her once again. "Hey guys! We managed to take care of the guys back there but, huh?" Klein said as everyone else appeared then got confused. "Wait, where's Yui?" He then asks.

They then looked at each other before smiling and looked down at the item.

(Later on)

Ash was on the couch recalling the events that happened that day: Turns out, Yui was actually an AI and she wanted to know what human life was, so she came to the trio to learn. Then Kirito and Asuna became parents while Ash became an Uncle which brought a lot of happiness to them. And to know that Kirito was about to save her, he felt happy that he did… but then when he thought of Kirito, he remembered that he still had yet to tell the boy who he really way and what happened to who he really met.

He had to tell him and he wouldn't be happy with the news… "Kirito, I hope we can still be friends after I explain everything.'

To be continued…

 **Well, what did you think? Going good so far? I decided to pick the other characters for this chapter so that they have more of a role than the original. I also may have copied a bit from the abridged series but that was because I thought I could make it work by doing so. The Abridged Omakes have stopped yes, but that's because the story is getting sadder by the minute and I don't want a laugh after reading something sad.**

 **Also, again I'm doing the Phantom Bullet Arc but as for Ordinal Scale, I'm a little unsure of. Ether way, let me know your thoughts and opinions and thanks for reading. Spelling errors? I'll worry about that some other time. If there are any, my bad then.**


	9. Edge of Hell's Abyss, The End of SAO

**Well, looks like it's time to end this Arc once and for all. Before I end this then go to the Alfiem Arc, I wanna say thanks to all of you that stuck around during this story, I really appreciate it. And before I finish this, here's a word out to AniSins, Digibro, and Mother's Basement form YouTube.**

 **F*** YOU MOTHER'S BASEMENT! F*** YOU DIGIBRO! AND F*** YOU ANISINS!**

 **Digibro can be excused because he admits that he makes mistakes, but AniSins is a nitpicky asshole. If you're wondering what I'm talking about, go watch the video called Everything Wrong with 'Everything Wrong with Sword Art Online' by Sword Artist. And Mother's Basement isn't excusable ether.**

 **If you're wondering why I'm freaking out a little bit, go watch Sword Artist's videos. He'll tell you everything and tell you why Sword Art Online doesn't deserve the false criticism it's getting today… Well, was getting anyway.**

 **Sorry, just needed to get that out of my system. Anywho, still thank you for staying here to read this, it's been an honor.**

November 6, 2024 Floor 22: Lake Outside Coral City

As of right now Ash was hanging out in the house him and his friends were staying in, having something on his mind as he laid in bed. He had known Kirito and Asuna for years now, but still had yet to tell each other about their own lives in the real world. Kirito believes that he's known Ash since the beta test, but that's only because he doesn't know the truth about who Ash really was.

Not only that, he was also going through some hard times especially after what happened with Yui. Earlier before he killed Kuradeel, and before he became a part of the Knights of the BloodOath, him and the assault team had taken on a mission to take out Laughing Coffin members. But, that all didn't go well for him as they were not only ambushed, but it was something that he wants to forget.

Even now, he can still hear the painful anger from the Laughing Coffin members that were killed during that battle, and he still wanted to forget it. He decided to take his mind off it by thinking about what he was gonna tell Kirito.

Ash couldn't keep the secret he had from him any longer and had to tell him. They've known each other for two whole years now, so he hoped that he would understand at the very least. Even so, it was still gonna be hard for him to explain, especially since he hasn't talk to anyone about family since he helped out Silica.

"I gotta tell him. I can't keep hiding this for long." Ash sighed to himself.

Just as he was about to get up and out of bed, he got a message from someone. He looked confused but checked it… unfortunately, instead of saying the person that was sending it, it said it was from anonymous. He didn't think anything of it and read through the letter.

 _Satoshi,_

 _I know how bad it must feel to have lost someone close to you, I understand completely. And I'm gratefully sorry for your loss.  
I have made many mistakes in the past and some of those mistakes have made me lose some things in my life that I wish I could bring back.  
Don't let this get you down though, keep pushing on, and don't make the same mistakes as I did. You have only one way to escape this world._

His eyes widened when he read it. That name… how did this anonymous person even know about that name? Regardless, he thought he should tell someone. He ran out into the living room but saw that Kirito and Asuna were gone. He then heard something going on outside and ran out to see what it was.

Chapter 11: Edge of Hell's Abyss

When Ash got outside, he looked around, then he heard what sounded like a huge splash. He looked to the source and saw what appeared to be some kind of fish monster walking on land towards a group of people and got worried. He went through his inventory and equipped his sword as he was running to them with the sheath in hand.

However, as he was getting there, a cloaked person walked up in front of it then ripped off her cloak. It was Asuna with rapier in hand. She unsheathed her blade, then easily sliced through it as it shatters into data before Asuna landed and sheathed her blade. Ash stopped the moment he got there, seeing that he was rushing over to help only for the situation to already be taken care of.

Then a bunch of players ran up to Asuna and were bombarding her with questions in amazement. Ash could only smile seeing that he was worried for no real reason, only for it to drop as he remembered something. He opened his menu an looked through his messages, but the message he seemed to get earlier was gone.

'No way, where'd it go?' He thought to himself.

"Hey, Ash!" He heard and looked up to see Kirito. "You're late, what were you doing?" He asked walking up to him.

"Um… Nothing important. Anyways, what's going on here?" The spike-haired asked curious.

"Huh? Oh, right we forgot to tell you, didn't we? There was an event going on today where me and this guy were trying to catch that fish. And When we did… well, you saw how it went." Kirito told him.

"Heh, yeah. I heard it from the house and rushed over here as quick as I could." Ash told him before something popped up on Kirito's screen. "What's up?" Ash asks seeing his expression change.

( **Timeskip** )

Kirito was on one of the beds as Ash was on the other and Asuna was standing while they had their normal outfits on. "Come on, you've moped long enough already." Asuna tells her husband.

"I know, but it's only been two weeks." Kirito complains.

"Yeah, but still. We had to expect him to call back eventually." Ash tells him.

"If he needs us on the front lines during our vacation, it must be a big deal." Asuna tells them.

"Yeah, but…" Kirito was complaining again.

"Maybe we should at least hear what Heathcliff has to say." Ash then says as the boy in black sighed before getting up.

"We'll take care of this, then come back." The orange haired girl tells them.

"Got it." The boy in black says again as they leave.

November 7, 2014 Floor: Coral Teleport Gate Plaza

As they were about to leave they ran into that old person, who Kirito told was named Nishida to Ash, came to greet them. "Thanks for seeing us off. We didn't get to really spend much time together, but it was fun." Kirito told the man.

"Yes, it was a good experience for me. Actually, before meeting the two of you, I can't imagine what the folks working together to clear the game were like. You might as well have been from another planet." Nishida tells him. "Being trapped in here for the past two years uh… even I made it out alive, I don't know if I can return to my old job. It's possible that deep down inside, I've given up hope of ever getting out. I figured spending time with a fishing poll between my mitts was the best thing for me. Pretty sad huh?" He rambled a bit to the group.

"Not at all, it doesn't sound sad." Kirito told him.

"I get what you mean. I used to feel the same as you at first." Asuna says as the attention went to her. "I felt lost and hopeless, every night I'd cry myself to sleep. It felt like each day that went by in here was another day lost for my real life." She said as Nishida understood what she was talking about.

"I'd cry, and afterwards I'd go and fight as hard as I could. All I cared about was winning, getting stronger and getting to the next floor. Then I saw someone taking a nap in the shade. I was so mad. I told him how he shouldn't waste his time like that. Then he said, and I'll never forget it: 'This is the best season in Aincrad and today's weather is at its optimal setting. He said it'd be a waste to go to a dungeon on such a beautiful day. So I tried lying down too, and I slept like a baby. When I woke up, it was evening, and he was giving me this odd look. We formed our own party and that's when I realized something. Even in a world like this, he was really living. He wasn't losing days in real life, he was gaining days here. I've learned so much from him. And by him I mean Kirito." Asuna explains the entire story. ***Gasp* damn it took me forever to write all that.**

"When I thought about him before falling asleep, I stopped having nightmares, and began looking forward to seeing him again. It was like, for the first time… I was glad to come to this world. For me, Kirito is everything. He's what the last two years were about. Him being here, is proof that I'm alive. Why'd I put on the NerveGear that day… it was obvious. To go meet him here." She continued to explain. "And, I might've also found something who could be similar to him." She said looking at Ash who just looked a little surprised.

"You have someone special to live for too, right?" She then asked Nishida.

"… Yeah, you're right. Absolutely right. Life isn't so bad here. It's not so bad at all." He told them before grabbing the couple's hands. "I wish there was something I could do to help, but all I can say is… good luck." He told them before letting go of their hands.

"Don't worry. We'll go fishing again." Kirito tells him.

"And next time, maybe tell me about it?" Ash asks with his hand on Kirito's shoulder, who just laughed nervously as Asuna giggled.

"Take care." She told Nishida before he walked away.

"Teleport: Grandzam." The three said in unison before teleporting away.

Floor 55: Grandzam

"The Recon Team was wiped out?" Kirito asks in shock as they were in the council room with Heathcliff.

"They were scouting for the upcoming boss fight. A party of twenty members from five different guilds, and when ten of them reached the center of the room, the boss had appeared. Closing them in and off from the rest of them." Heathcliff told them as the Black-Swordsman grunted from the sound of it.

"An anti-crystal zone." He then muttered.

"Precisely. Couldn't have been more than five minutes before the door opened, and there was no trace of the soldiers or the boss." The man continued to tell them.

"No way, really?" Ash asked as him and the group looked worried.

"Clearing the game should be everyone's priority. We're going to launch an attack with the strongest group we have possible against the boss." Heathcliff tells them.

"You can count on us to fight with you… but, this needs to be clear. My friends' safety is my priority, especially Asuna's. So, if anything gets risky, I'll protect them over everyone else." Kirito tells him.

"A person with something to protect is a strong ally to have. I'm expecting a good fight from you." The man then tells with while smiling a bit.

(Later)

Ash was on one side of the room waiting on Kirito and Asuna. He was letting them have their alone time once again, like he always does. While waiting, he was thinking about how Heathcliff sounded so familiar, and what that anonymous message was all about. But more or less he was hoping to get to talk to Kirito about who he really was.

He heard everything they were talking about, from the part about Asuna saying she'd kill herself if Kirito went on a suicide mission and didn't come back, the players being moved to hospitals, and how she wanted the two of them to meet in the real world and get to know each other.

Then after a while when they were done, Asuna left the two of them to talk. "What did you want to talk about exactly, Ash?" Kirito asked his friend.

"It's something I gotta tell ya that I should've told ya. But, it's not really easy to explain." Ash tells him.

"Oh, boy… what is it exactly?" The Black-Swordsman asked again.

Ash looked at him for a second and opened his mouth as if he was gonna say something, then stopped. "… It's probably best if we sit down to talk about this." He then tells him as Kirito looked confused at first but then nodded and walked towards him before they sat down in front of each other.

"Okay, what is it?" He asked.

The spiked-hair boy paused for a second before taking in a deep breath. "You remember… what happened during the beta test?" he then asked his friend.

"Of course, I remember it all clearly. It was a lot of fun but, a lot of stuff has changed since then." Kirito told him. "Why are you asking me this though? We were both Beta-Tester, and we've met there. You know; when you suddenly just disconnected from the server when-?" He was saying before…

"I'm not the same Ash from that time." Ash interrupted him as he flinched.

Silence filled the room for a second before the Black-Swordsman spoke. "W-what are you talking about?" He asked confused.

"… I'm not the same Ash from that time, and I wasn't there during the beta, nor was I a Beta-Tester." The spiked-hair boy told him.

"I-I don't understand… who are you then?" Kirito asked again.

Ash waited for a second before continuing. "Well, do you remember the incident that happened in 2020? Two years before SAO's launch?" He had to ask.

"Well, yeah. That was the year when a small amount of four to six of the Beta-Testers died from power-ou-" The boy in black was saying, until he realized what he was talking about. "Wait a second."

"Yeah, one of those Beta-Testers was that Ash you met." The spiked hair boy continues to tell him as Kirito looked shocked. "That Ash, was also my father… Ashura Ketchum."

After hearing this, Kirito was shocked and couldn't believe it. This whole time he believed that he was with a friend he's known before Sword Art Online even fully released, but only to find out that it was the son of that friend.

Then again when he thought of it, he should've known something was off from the beginning. The excuse that he didn't remember much of the beta because it's been a while, the way he acts being similar but yet also different, it was starting to make sense now.

"So, you're his son." Kirito asked as Ash's eyes started to water.

"Yeah, I-I am… I'm sorry I couldn't tell you Kirito, but I didn't know how to do so." Then tears started to fall from his eyes. "I-I had to watch him die there… I-I've never been the same after he died… I had shut myself out from the rest of the w-world, t-trying not to make many friends as best as I could… put on a f-fake smile around certain people to hide the pain I was feeling inside… because… I lost him."

Ash was choking on his tears trying to continue what he was saying as Kirito was also starting cry a bit. 'He… really is like me in a way.'

"That's why I entered Sword Art Online… It was my way of escaping the real world… but even still, I can't forget all that's happened." He told him while still looking down. "I want to stay here, in this world, away from reality… but, I still have a mother to go back home to, and that's why I can't die here… so I can go back to her." The boy finally manages to control his tears.

"…" Kirito had no idea what to say after that. "That's why you entered Sword Art Online…" He states.

"Yeah… that's why I'm here now." Ash tells him.

Then after a moment of silence, he heard a sigh and turned to his friend to see tears were also falling from his face. "To think, I actually believe you were him at first." He said with a sad smile. "I understand how you feel, man. I've been in a similar situation as you have." He says as he wipes his tears.

"Like you, I also shut myself out from the world, but it wasn't for the same reason as you." He got ready to tell him about himself. "It was back then when I was a little kid, ten or nine I believe. I had just found out about that I wasn't really a part of the family I was in and like you, I was different. I didn't know how to handle it at all and therefore, I isolated myself into virtual gaming like you. And so, here I am now. In a position similar to yours." He told him while wiping away his tears.

Ash was surprised to hear what Kirito said, but was also astonished by it. He in his own way had the same situation as he did, and they both shut themselves out from the everyone else for closely similar reasons.

"You know… I kinda wished that we really were brothers, Kirito." Ash told him with a smile.

"I know what you mean, and even though you're not the same Ash, I'm grateful that I did meet you in this game." Kirito tells him with a smile as well.

"Listen, whatever happens, I want you to keep this between you and me. Maybe even Asuna if you wanna tell her." The spiked-hair boy told his friend.

"Of course, I'll keep this secret for ya, Ash." The Black-Swordsman told him.

"Satoshi." Ash suddenly said which caught Kirito's attention. "My real name is Satoshi Ketchum." He told him with a smile.

There was a pause for the moment before he responded. "Alright, then… my real name Kazuto Kirigaya."

However, as they were talking, they didn't know Asuna was against the door listening the entire time. She had tears running down her face when she heard everything they talked about and felt sad knowing what her friend had been through.

Floor 75: Collinia Teleport Gate Plaza

The trio had appeared from the gate, the assault team was there staring at them as they walked by them. "Hey!" They heard before turning around to see Gary, Klein and Agil in their armor.

"No way, you too?" Kirito asked.

"That's the best you got? No way?" Agil asked a little offended. "I shut my shop down to come out here. You don't get players like me anywhere you know." He told them.

"Maybe we should remove you from the item drop list, then." Ash told him while looking annoyed.

"Hey now, let's not go that far man." He said back to him as Gary, Klein and Asuna shared a laugh.

But the laughs were cut short when they heard the teleport gate and looked to see members of the Knights of the BloodOath with Heathcliff leading them walking towards the center of the crowd. He then took out a wrap crystal and rose it into the air.

"Corridor: Open." He said before a white portal opened in front of them. "Now then, let's go." He says as he entered with everyone following.

When they exited, the trio already felt something off. "I'm getting a bad vibe in here. Do you feel it?" Asuna asked.

"Yeah, and I don't think it's a coincidence." Kirito tells them as they walked through the dungeon they were in.

When they made it to the door, everyone went through their menus, pulling out weapons for them to use and everything. "Everyone ready?" Heathcliff asked as everyone seemed prepared, those even being Gary and Klien's groups. "The Knights of the BloodOath will hold off the boss' attacks and distracting it. In the meantime, the rest of you have to stay sharp, and try to figure out its attack patterns. And I won't lie when I say this battle will be hard, but I have faith that we might be able to prevail… for our day of liberation!" He then shouted out as the rest shouted with him.

He then turned towards the gate and walked towards it, meanwhile, Ash seemed to be thinking about something. Whenever it came to Heathcliff, he always sounds so familiar and the way he's been fighting in previous raids felt off to him. And then there's the anonymous message he got that suddenly deleted itself, he couldn't help but feel like something was completely off.

Then he felt something on his should and looked to see Asuna next to him. "Everything will be okay. We'll help you." She told him as he looked to see Kirito looking at him with a smile as well.

Seeing both his friends being positive put a smile on his face as well. Then Heathcliff opened the door and everyone readied their weapons. "Don't die guys." Kirito tells them.

"Heh, same to you." Klein says with a smile.

"I'm gonna make a fortune off today's drops." Agil says.

"Yeah, but I'm more or less looking forward to the EXP I'm gonna get." Gary tells them with a smile as well.

"Forward to battle!" Heathcliff then yelled as they all charged in.

When everyone did though, they all came to a stop as the room was completely empty and the doors shut them in. "Where is he?!" One of the players yelled.

"Maybe it's hiding somewhere?" Another player said as he was looking around.

"I have bad feeling here… where is the boss?" Dawn says a little scared.

Then after a bit, they heard what sounded like skeletal crawling. "Up there!" Asuna yelled looking up.

"SWEET SHADE OF ERANIKUS! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Another random player yelled as there was a skeletal spider legged monster that glowed red eyes.

"The Skull…" Klein was saying.

"Reaper." Kirito finished as the name of the monster showed up and it's health filled up.

"Everyone, keep your distance from it!" Heathcliff yelled out warning them.

Then the monster jumped and was heading down to towards them as everyone scattered in different directions scared out of their minds. When it landed on the ground, it caused a shockwave that made a few players stumble then swiped one of its bladed hands at them, hitting two players that went flying into the air. Then as Asuna tried to catch them, they shattered into fragments, leaving the trio, Klein, Gary and Agil shocked.

"I-it killed them in one shot." Gary said shocked.

"We're dead, we're so dead." Agil says feeling worried.

The monster then went after another player but just as it was about to hit, Heathcliff got in the way and blocked the attack with his shield. But it still managed to get the player and kill him as it ran around the room at blinding speeds.

"We can't even get close enough to land a hit on it." Klein says worried.

Then as another player was about to get hit… "LOOK OUT!" Kirito got in the middle of the attack and blocked it, falling onto one knee as he struggled to keep it off.

Then as it was about to land another it, Heathcliff blocked the attack, getting Asuna a chance to land a hit, knocking it back a bit. Then Ash hit it again knocking it further back. "If we block it together we might have a chance. Come on, let's do this." Asuna says while getting Kirito up.

"Okay, then." Kirito says agreeing.

"Let's get going then." Ash says before the beasts begins attacking and they were dodging or blocking.

"Me, Asuna and Ash will handle the scythes, everyone else will attack from the side!" Kirito yelled out his plan.

Then as the others were holding off the beast's bladed hands, the players were landing their hits on it. But as they were, the boss used its tail to take out a few of them, leaving some like Agil wounded at their arm. Everyone was now a distance as the beast roared out. Ash stared in awe as he couldn't believe how many they were losing so far and yet the beast was barely damaged.

"Guys, you ready!" Asuna yelled out.

"Yeah!" Kirito yelled back.

"Ready!" Ash then said as well before they go back into the fight.

Every player was still trying their hardest to beat the boss. While Heathcliff blocked an attack, Klein and Gary got under it and attacked from below, letting Agil be able to attack from above. The boss roared out in anger as it was attempting to hit the trio who was dodging its attacks, then hit them together with their sword skills. Then, they all put their swords together and attacked at the same time.

They all knocked the beast back but to their fear, it was still on it's second bar which was almost full. But then suddenly the beast started to appear pixelated and seemed as though it was glitching out which was surprising other player and before they knew it, the boss glitched itself down to its last bar.

"Hey, he's down to the last bit of his health already!" Barry yelled out as the other players seemed surprised at first, but decided to use it to their advantage and went to attack at full force as did the trio.

 **Time for the next and final chapter to the Aincrad Arc. Also, I put in a glitch there because that's what would happen in a game. No matter how much you think you've completed making a game, there will always be glitches in it.**

"Everyone, keep attacking it!" Heathcliff yelled out as they all ganged up on the boss and started attacking it with full force.

Each and every strike brought its health lower and lower and lower, until finally the last bit of health emptied out and the boss screeched out in pain before shattering into fragments and the 'Congratulations' text appeared above them.

Chapter 12: The End of Sword Art Online

After the fight, everyone fell to the ground exhausted and with their health low from that battle they just had. "How many did we lose?" Klein got out.

Kirito opened his menu then checked. "We lost about seven of us. If the boss hadn't glitched we probably would've lost more." He told them as every player that heard was shocked.

"We've still got twenty-five floors to go… and if they aren't glitched like this one…" Gary said on his knees.

"Twenty-five more floors? How are we even gonna make it that far?" Agil says unable to move.

Everyone was murmuring about what they just went through. Kirito was right, if it wasn't for the glitch that happened, who knows what they'll have to go through if they don't get lucky. But Ash's mind was elsewhere, he was focused on Heathcliff.

The sound of his voice, the way he fights, how he seems to be the strongest player in the game… once Ash put all the pieces together, his eyes widened. 'I hope I'm right about this…' Then grabbed his sword and got up as his two friends looked at him confused.

Then suddenly he charged at Heathcliff with a swordskill ready and just as Heathcliff was about to block it in surprise, Ash redirected it and it almost hit his face, but then something stopped his blade as he landed in front of the commander. Then a text appeared next to him.

"Ash! What are you-?!" Kirito yelled as him and Asuna were about to run to him but then saw the text.

"I-Imortal Object?" Asuna says in disbelief being reminded of what happened to Yui.

Ash then jumped back to gain some distance. "It was you wasn't it?" He asked Heathcliff as the other players seemed shocked. "You're the one who sent me that anonymous message with my real name. Aren't you?!" He started his tone of voice started to get more aggressive as everyone else seemed confused.

"The reason why your HP never goes into the yellow… the reason you seem to be the strongest in this game… the reason you seem to have unmatchable states compared to everyone… you've been using the system to help you fight entire time, right?" He then asked him as no one seemed to understand what he was talking about.

"Ash, what's going on?" Kirito asked.

"I'll tell you… Ever since we've meet, something has been bothering me this entire time. Each minute I hear your voice which sounded so familiar, all those battles and boss raids you've been on back then, I was starting to understand more and more of why I had such a feeling bothering me."

While everyone still didn't know what Ash was talking about, Heathcliff seemed to understand completely. "This is something that even a child would know. Watching someone else play a video game is boring. Isn't that, Kayaba?" Once he said that, everyone gasped and were in disbelief.

"Hmph, interesting. Is there anything else you'd like to say about this manner?" Heathcliff asked him.

"Yeah, my suspicion had only gotten stronger from watching yours and Kirito's duel. When you turned the tables, that was too fast of a block, even for you." The boy continued to explain.

"Heh, I should've suspected as much. What an unfortunate mistake. But he was very strong and so fast that engaged in assist-mode." The man admitted with a smirk as everyone was even more shocked. Then he looked around at everyone of them before announcing… "I am Akihiko Kayaba, creator of SAO, and final boss who would've awaited you at the final floor!"

Everyone gasped out in disbelief and shock and Kirito stepped back as Asuna held his arm. "S-so, the strongest player in the entire game… is actually the boss?" He said shook from what he heard.

"Not a bad storyline, is it? Though, Kirito, I expected you to be the one before me at the very end. Dual-Wielding is quite the unique skill, being given to a player with the strongest reaction time, the hero of the story that rises up to challenge the demon king. Let alone, the power you have exceeded my expectations. I guess twists and turns are what make an MMORPG so thrilling…" Kayaba was saying.

"Our loyalty… our hope… you damn bastard…" One of the Knights of the BloodOath began getting up. "DIE KAYABAAAAAA!" He jumped at him attempting to attack, only for Kayaba to open his menu and…

The player fell to the ground in paralysis. He then did the same to everyone else, as they fell down paralyzed. Kirito caught Asuna, only to fall to the ground as well, until Ash and Kayaba were the only ones standing.

"What you doing? What you're gonna kill everyone here to cover your tracks?" The boy asked looking angry.

"Of course not. I'm not that unreasonable. I actually had another idea in mind. I'll wait for you all at the top floor within Ruby Palace. A real shame I have to leave so soon, I've spent so much time developing the Knights of the BloodOath and all these players. But with the strength you have now, I'm sure you'll reach me. Though, I might need to fix some bugs, seeing how our last boss fight went." Kayaba says to all the players who glared at him.

"But, before I get onto that…" He then put his sword and shield in front of him. "Ash, I believe you deserve a reward for figuring out who I am. So, I might give you a chance." He said to the boy as he looked confused

"What?"

"A one-on-one fight, right here and now. Needless to say, I won't have an immortal status on me. And if you win, every player in this game will be able to log out and the game will be cleared." He told him with confident smirk. "So, what is your choice?"

Ash seemed confused at first, but then, this might be his chance and if he wins… "Don't do Ash! You can't take that risk!" Kirito yelled out to him.

"This isn't a good idea, Ash! We need to fall back!" Asuna also yelled out.

 _Then just like that, every began screaming, shouting, and freaking out altogether._

Ash was thinking back to everything he's been through.

" _You have to be… beat the boss… for everyone here…"_

He gritted his teeth…

 _Open his mouth trying to say last words, before bursting into fragments._

 _He was then behind the man's beheaded body._

" _Always so kind and generous… please, go and help people in my place. Share your happiness…"_

His eyes began to water… And he knew he couldn't reject the offer. "I accept your challenge." He said as his friends looked at him shock after hearing what he said. "Let's get this over with…" He said clutching his fists.

"Ash!" Kirito and Asuna yelled at the same time.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let this death game continue." Ash says looking over to them. "It's been fun hanging with you, Kirito, Asuna. Even if I'm not always with you two, I'm grateful and happy that I got to meet both of you. Thank you." He told them as they gasped from hearing what he said.

"No don't!" Agil yelled out.

"Ash, stop!" Klein and Gary yelled out as well.

He looked back at them. "Agil, thanks for supporting all the players in this game. I know all about it… you may act greedy, but behind that act, you're always helping out the players in the game." Agil was touched by his words. "Klien… I didn't really get to know you much but, you are a great guy, and if we met earlier, we'd probably make a great team."

"No… don't you dare apologize!" Klein says while crying.

"And Gary… you were the first person I ever met in this game. I'm sorry I didn't join your guild. It probably would've been really fun."

When Gary heard it, he wanted to say something to thank him, but as he was crying, each word coming out was a gibbering mess, and yet still Ash got what he was trying to say. "I'll see you all on the other side." He said giving them one last smile.

He turned back to Kayaba then said… "I have one request though… If I do die here and now, if these players can't get out of this game, then I ask that you fix it so that they can't die anymore." He asked as Kayaba seemed surprised at first but understood.

"Very well then." He said with a smile.

"Wait! Don't this Ash!" Kirito still yelled as a last attempt.

Then Kayaba went through his menu and disabled his immortality. And then lowered his HP down to Ash's before unsheathing his sword.

 _ **A warning, to the people the good and the evil…**_

The two stared each other down. 'This is it, this is the final battle…'

 _ **To the soldier, the civilian, the martyr, the victim…**_

'It's a fight to the death…'

 _ **It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie, and the moment to live and the moment to die…**_

'That doesn't matter, cause right now… I've got something worth fighting for!'

 _ **To the right! to the left! We will fight to the death!**_

Ash started by charging at Kayaba, clashing blades then hitting his shield knocking him back a bit. Kayaba tried to come back with a slash, but the boy managed to block the attack and throw him off.

 _ **To the edge, of the earth! It's a brave new world from the last to the first!**_

They then went back to ether clashing blades or blocking each other's attacks. 'I don't have any unique skills like Kirito or Kayaba, but that doesn't matter. I don't need them!'

 _ **To the right! to the left! We will fight to the death!**_

'Even if it means having to fight him without any swordskills and with my own skills!' Ash was starting to go faster with each clash of the blades.

 _ **To the edge, of the earth! It's a brave new world from the last to the first!**_

They were still clashing blades, and Ash kept getting faster as Kayaba was starting to have a hard time. 'This is it!'

 _ **To the right! to the left! We will fight to the death!**_

Believing he was finally doing something Ash kept going over and over and over again.

 _ **To the edge, of the earth! It's a brave new world, It's a brave new world, IT'S A BRAVE NEW WORLD!**_

"AURA BURST!" He charged up a swordskill by mistake then took a swing at him, only for his sword to break on contact with Kayaba's shield. 'W-what?' He was left in disbelief of what just happened.

"It's been fun Satoshi, but now… it's game over." Kayaba charged up his attack and was about to bring it down on Ash.

Then suddenly he got rammed by something and was sent back. When he looked, he saw it was Kirito before landing on the ground. Then the attack hit Kirito leaving a large mark at his torso as everyone looked shocked at what happening. And while Kirito was still in the air, his body was already glowing.

Ash looked in shock seeing him glow, but as he did, Kirito gave one final look and smile at him… "Goodbye…" Before he burst into fragments and his two swords fell to the ground.

"… N… no…" The boy was at a loss for words after what he just saw.

"Huh, now that was surprising. I'm sure I never programed a way for a character to break paralysis. Though, I guess there really are still some bugs I need to work out." Kayaba says after seeing what he's done.

Ash couldn't believe it… he just saw one of his best friends die before his eyes, then that was the last straw. He roared out in anger as he ran over and grabbed his Elucidator before charging back at Kayaba swinging the sword around while screaming out in anger as he kept slamming the sword back and forth onto the shield as if it would do anything.

While he was doing so, tears were forming in his eyes as he kept bashing at the shield in anger. Then he began to slow down… until all he was doing was just swinging the sword now.

"*Sigh*, this is just sad now." Kayaba walked up to him. "I know this isn't exactly how you picture all of this ending, but your fate was sealed the moment accepted my request… It's time to face reality Satoshi… I'm the god of this world." He then plunged his sword deep into his chest. "This was never going to end any other way."

Ash's body then began to glow… "No…" He muttered which shocked Kayaba. "I reject your reality… and substitute MY OWN!" He screamed out before plunging his sword into the man's chest.

They stayed there for a little bit before Kayaba's head fell, his health dropping down to zero and Ash taking one last look at the Elucidator one last time. 'We did it…' He thought before both of them shattered to pieces, and their fragments flew into the air.

 _November 7, 2:55 P.M.  
The game has been cleared._

(? ? ?)

…Darkness… that was all that appeared to be left… Ash figured it was over… he cleared the game and saved everyone… but at what cost?… He lost the closest friend he ever had… just like his father… just like his brother… and now himself… he was expecting to be on his way to the afterlife.

But when Ash opened his eyes, he wasn't anywhere he expected to be. All he saw was clouds and the sky ahead of him. He looked down and he was still in his outfit from Sword Art Online. He was completely confused, but none the less flicked down his hand to open the menu.

' _Initiating Final Phase'_ That's what popped up as soon as he opened it with what appeared to be a timer at the same time. He closed out while still confused but what he spotted below him shocked him. It was the floating castle Aincrad, falling apart into a black void. While looking down, he saw the house him and his friends were staying in break with everything else.

"Quite the view isn't it?" He heard before turning to the voice seeing a man standing next to him.

"… K-Kayaba?" He asked in disbelief.

"At Argus as of now, the SAO main frame is in a room five floors below street-level. The remaining players are being log out and all the game data is being wiped from its drives as we speak. In ten minutes, everything in this world will disappear and all that will be left are few of backed up files." Kayaba tells him.

"What about the other players that died?" Ash asked him.

"I'm afraid they're gone… As for Kirito, I might've made an exception." The man then says pointing down as the boy seemed confused until he looked down himself and saw Kirito and Asuna below them. "Let them have their moment. This is gonna be the last time they see each other in this game." The man told him.

"You… saved him?" The boy asked confused.

"Yes, at least at the last minute that is. Had you not defeated me and he might've perished." Kayaba tells him.

Ash looked back and saw the two were talking to each other and while he did feel better that he wasn't dead, he still had something to ask. "… Why… what was the point of all this… why'd you do this?" He asked him while glaring.

"You don't remember? I explained it all on the day of the launch. _To create and control the fate of a world of my own design._ But even still… before making a system to a full-dive environment… I dreamed of this… a castle in a world that wasn't governed by earthly laws or restrictions. I poured my life into making that world a reality." The man explained. "I created this world and I got to see so much more than I could ever imagine for it. My steel castle, floating in the sky, I've forgotten how old I was when I became upset with it…" He then started to explain more.

"I wanted to leave the earth, and fly to that castle. I wanted that more than anything else, for as long as I can remember." He told him as Ash didn't know what to say. "You know, Satoshi, I wanna believe it's still out there… that somewhere in some other world, that castle truly exists." He told him as he continued to stare at Aincrad.

"Yeah… maybe it still is." Was all the boy could think of saying.

"Before I forget, you're probably wondering why I know your real name, don't you?" Kayaba asked as he caught Ash's attention. "I know because it was your father's death that had a part in this. People say that the incident that happened long ago with the few amount of beta-testers dying was because of the power outage, but in reality, it was actually something that had to do with the game." He continued to explain.

"The reason of your father and many other players deaths was because of a glitch that only seemed to affect few players. When found out about that glitch, the game was delayed for two years because of it. I got upset from that and… well, I guess I just brought out my anger on everyone else for it…"

"… And two years later when I finally was able to publish the game, I had already turned that bug it had into a feature. And the story from that point on, you already know." He told him.

Ash understood what he told him and felt a bit of sympathy for him. His father didn't die from the blackout, but rather from a glitch that became a part of Sword Art Online. And Kayaba got upset because he was forced to postpone the release date of his creation and in the end, took out his anger on everyone else. And anger can bring someone to do unreasonable actions.

"Also, congratulations on completing the game, Ash." Kayaba then said catching his attention again, before looking at him. "Now, I must be on my way. Take care." He then tells him before turning and walking away and disappearing leaving dusts behind.

 **Crossing Field music box version**

After this, Ash sat down and watched the last of Aincrad fall apart. "Well… I did it dad… it's all over." He looked down to Kirito and Asuna and saw them hug each other, planting a smile on his face. "Good job everyone… it's thanks to you all that now… we can all finally rest." Ash says before a light engulfed him and then he disappeared into the light.

(Real World)

Everything was black, but when Ash came to, he finally managed to open his eyes which were blurry at first, but then they began to adjust to the light. He looked around and he was in a hospital's bed. He looked down at his hands his skin was pale and he could even see that he had lost some blood.

'Is this… the real world?' He got up, and put his hands on his head feeling the NerveGear helmet and was shocked at first to feel it on his head. He took it off as his hair now long and messy fell, and looked at it in disbelief. 'I… I'm home… I'm back…' He thought to himself as tear began to fill up in his eyes. "I'm finally back…" He managed to say out loud in a weak voice.

Then he heard a sound come from the hall and looked to the door, seeing another male that also had long and messy hair with pale skin as well using an IV pole as a crutch walk by. 'K…Kirito…' He thought before weakly smiling, then laying down onto his bed.

He was happy that he finally returned back home. He went into Sword Art Online to escape this reality, he wanted to leave this world. The virtual reality world meant so much to him, but he also had people he loved in this world that made it also worth living for. And now, everyone else was finally safe… if only he knew who was staring down on him with a smile.

 **(Lisa/Yume Sekai)**

 **I don't know when it appeared, but I don't want to let go**

 **Of this flickering beam of light in my heart**

 **Even if I have to take a detour, even if I trip and fall, right here**

 **Forever and ever, it will be glowing…**

 **I hear the distant sounds of the clock, they seem a little lonely**

 **Trying again strongly, going high this time, and I went through it**

 **In a reality that keeps repeating itself**

 **I have as many wishes as the number of stars**

 **But I've found a tomorrow that I should be aiming for**

 **I can't go against this feeling**

 **An endless world opens up before my eyes**

 **It doesn't matter if this just a dream**

 **Even if I keep getting lost, deep inside my heart**

 **Forever and ever, it will keep on resonating**

 **The dream I had since the night I threw away the childish ribbon**

 **On the glittering streets, I was spending an ideal life**

 **Heading for the place where I'll never get hurt**

 **I kept longing for wings, but all I need**

 **Is really just one thing on my back that needs my protection**

 **Colors and light are slowly filling up this world**

 **I've decided to go with how I feel**

 **The color of a smile, the color of an encounter**

 **They will continue to evolve more and more**

 **There is no answer, and I'm trying to find one**

 **It's not pretty, but I can't give up**

 **I'm sure I resemble this world, and I'll keep on believing**

 **With your new tears, you can now see the future**

 **But you don't have to be afraid of it**

 **The pain in your heart and the view you've been looking for**

 **Surely, surely, they will come together someday**

 **Without boundaries**

 **An endless world opens up before my eyes**

 **It doesn't matter if this just a dream**

 **Even if I keep getting lost, deep inside my heart**

 **Forever and ever, it will keep on resonating**

 **Forever and ever, it will be resonating…**

 **Softly, softly, it will be glowing…**

Until next time…

 **Wow, I did it. I finally finished the Aincrad Arc of Swordsman's Ashes, finally finished. After a while I didn't know how to finish so I delayed it a bit. I'm gonna have a problem when I get to the Alicization arc because I am gonna get a writers block when I get to it finally. But I can say that this isn't the end and this fanfictions status won't be completed yet, not until we finish the Alfiem Arc that is.**

 **So, next part of the fanfic is where Ash meets Leafa. Before I go to that arc, I want to thank you all so much for reading this story. I'm grateful to all of you that stayed here and read my story. On another note, I'm planning on doing a High School DXD fanfic at some point and I had this idea to make Ash a Saiyan from Dragon Ball, but changed my mind because it got too confusing.**

 **So, for the HighSchool DXD fanfic, Ash will be replacing Issei. However, whenever I will post it, isn't confirmed, but I plan on doing it.**

Random Follower: What about your Fairy Tail fanfic?!

 **Oh right… well, I might be dropping it.**

Followers: WHAAAAAAAAT?!

 **Calm down, I don't mean to anger you all. It's just that, I lost my spot on which episode I'm supposed to be on, and it was around about an episode in the hundreds. So sorry, but I might be dropping that fanfic because I might never find whatever episode I was previously on.**

 **Still, thank you all so much for reading and again I'm grateful that you all read this. Next time we get back to this, we're going to the Alfiem Arc. So, thanks for reading and stay tuned.**


	10. Never Forget

**Alright, back this series now. This is start of the Fairy Dance Arc and where Ash will meet Leafa, aka Suguha. Where? When? I haven't figured out for sure, but I will at some point. Now for this chapter I have no idea what to really do, but I'm gonna try doing most of it being from scratch and other parts of it will be different.**

 **Also, Alfeim Arc may not be one of my favorites, but I like Leafa and we're gonna fix this arc and make it at least if not slightly better. Again, I don't own Sword Art Online or Pokémon, but if I did, I would've tried to make the old SAO better and Ash would be the champion already.**

 **Bendy Plushie: Question of the day. Which Shonen harem is your favorite?**

 **Naruto Shippuden  
My Hero Academia  
Black Clover  
Hunter x Hunter**

 **Leave your response in a review down below.**

Everything was finally finished. Sword Art Online was no more and now everyone could rest easy knowing they're safe. As for one black-haired boy in particular, he was happy that it was all finally over and was back in the real world relaxing on a hill. After getting back, he was exhausted, and the ground felt like a long-lost friend to him.

"Uncle Ash?" He heard as he opened his eyes and saw a black-haired little girl in front of him.

"Hey, Yui. How are you?" He asked her with a smile on his face.

"Amazing! Mommy said lunch is gonna be ready!" She then tells him.

"Really?" He asked before she got up.

"Yeah, come on, Uncle Ash!" She says as she happily pulled his arm.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming." He says as they head down to a little house and head inside.

"About time you got up. What took you so long?" An orange haired girl asked after seeing him.

"Sorry, Asuna. The grass was just so comfy it had me glued to it." He tells her.

"Well, go sit at the table. Food's gonna be ready in a minute, Ash." She tells him while standing in the kitchen.

"Alright." He says as he walks over to small table and him and the little girl sit down.

When he got there though, he found something off. He saw there were only three chairs but the table they sat at looked like it could sit four people. He seemed confused as to why there were only three chairs and there wasn't a fourth one set up.

"Hey, Asuna?" He asked the girl who put the food on the table.

"Hmm? Something wrong Ash?" She asked him.

"Nothing I was just wondering… where's Kirito gonna sit?" He asked her as she looked surprised.

"What do you mean?" She asked him.

"Well, he's eating with us, isn't he?" The boy asked her again and she looked confused and concerned.

"Ash, don't you remember?" She asked him as he looked confused. "Kirito… Kirito died." She told him as his eyes then filled with shock. "He's been dead for months now. Remember, he died on the seventh of November." She told him before he got up from his seat.

"N-no… n-no stop playing with me Asuna. It's not funny." He tells her as she looked even more concerned.

"I'm not making this up, he's not with us anymore Ash." She kept telling.

"No, no, no, no… that's not true… that's not true… he's still here…" The boy kept saying as the windows began cracking. "He's not gone…" And he began stumbling backwards

"Ash, are you feeling okay?" The girl asked him.

"Uncle Ash, what's wrong?" The little girl then asked him.

"He's not dead… Kirito's not dead… HE'S NOT DEAD!"

(Real world)

He then woke up in his room screaming then hyperventilating like crazy holding his chest. Sweat trickling down his head, his heart beating like there was no tomorrow, he looked out his window seeing the clouds go by as a means of calming down and looked as though he was in despair. He then shook his head and placed his hands-on top of it as if he was in pain.

Then he looked at his phone for a second while still heavily breathing before grabbing it in an instant and dialing a number on it. "No, no, no, no, no, no… pick up, pick up, pick up pick-" He was muttering to himself before hearing the dial tone stop.

" _Hey, Satoshi? What's going on?"_ He heard from the other side as he sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness…" He says.

" _What? What's wrong?"_ The boy on the other side asked.

"Sorry, Kiri… I-I mean, Kazuto… I just… I… I needed to know you were still alive." He told him.

" _Still alive? Satoshi we just talked a day ago. What brought you to believe I wasn't still here?"_ The boy on the phone asked again.

"I-I know, but… I… I had this… nightmare and-" He was saying until he got a flashback of another black-haired boy getting slashed by a white-haired man which caused him to grunt.

" _Wow… that does sound kinda scary. What happened in that nightmare?"_ The boy known as Kazuto asked him.

"Well… I uh… I don't really know if I wanna talk about it." He tells him.

" _Um, okay… well I'm still alive if you wanted to know. You don't really have to tell me if you don't want to."_ Kazuto tells him.

"I know, sorry for calling you like this. Goodbye." He tells him.

" _No worries, if you need help, I'm here for ya. Goodbye."_ They then hang up and the boy was once again alone.

It had been months since SAO had been completed and the remaining who survived that nightmare have now been freed and now lived peaceful lives… at least that's what people expected. One of those people was Satoshi Ketchum. In Sword Art Online, he was known as Ash or Swordsman's Ashes as people would call him.

He was the one who also defeated Akihiko Kayaba who created the death game and as such he released all of those remaining. But during that battle he saw something that traumatized him, and even after knowing that his friend was still alive, the memory still never left him which made life in the real world not so easy.

Unfortunately, not all of them ended up getting released. Some were still stuck in their Nerve Gears and at the hospital for an unknown reason. People are still trying to find said reason for why, but so far they had no luck. Ash -or known as Satoshi- got up from his bed and looked at the clock. 10:31 A.M. Seeing what time it was made the boy sigh.

"Gosh dang it, I overslept again." He says as he rubs his eyes. "Why does this keep happening?" Then recalling the last few times, it happened.

(Visual)

Ever since SAO ended, Ash was finally back into the real world and when he did return, his mother was relieved to find her son was still alive. He was happy to be back as well, seeing his mother's smile after so long couldn't make him any more happy than he already was. He thought it was all over and things could go back to normal.

Though not everything went back to normal. When Ash got out of the hospital, him, his friend Kirito and everyone who got out of SAO had to a special school that was supposed to help them get back on track and through real life again. But that wasn't the bad part.

Ash started having nightmares during certain nights. Some days he didn't have those nightmares, but others they tend to appear. This caused the boy to oversleep some days and not end up with him awaking late in the daytime which he didn't tell Kirito or any of his other friends because he didn't want them to worry about him.

(Visual over)

Although, the nightmare he had was different than any of the other ones he had. Sure, they were somewhat traumatizing, but none had made him relive memories such as what happened during the battle with Kayaba. He looked at him computer screen and saw tears running down his face. He quickly wiped them and sat back onto his bed.

'Why… why did that have to happen?' He thought to himself before…

" _Goodbye…"_

He gasped from having a sudden flashback. He remained sitting where he was, frozen in place unable to move. The memory of what happened back then still haunted him to that day. Even if he knew that Kirito was still alive, he could never forget what had seen. He shook his head to try and get rid of those thoughts and got up before heading to his door.

'They'll stop soon… they have to.' He thought to himself before he opened the door and left down stairs. 'But, even so, I'm not gonna let those thoughts drag me down… they're just memories.'

Chapter 13: Never Forget

In order to take his mind off most of what happened, Satoshi decided to take a walk into town. In a short sleeved blue jacket, a black shirt with long white sleeves, navy blue pants, some normal red and white sneakers, and a red and white hat. He was wondering where to go since he seemed to just be meandering around. However, his mind was still in the gutter and he still wasn't able to take his mind off what happened that morning.

'Dang it. After so long, why now? Why did that memory have to just show itself after so long.' He thought to himself as he wandered the sidewalk.

He stopped walking and stood in place before moving his hands up to his head to massage his templates. Not giving up, he still tried to find a way to take his mind off what was happening and took a look around. He then spotted something up ahead… the cemetery. There lied his lost family members, a place that hadn't seen in so long. After a moment of staring, he then made his way over and decided to visit his deceased brother and father.

He walked in front of two gravestones; both reading the names: Red and Ashura Ketchum. He had his head down with his bangs covering his eyes looking depressed as he stood there for a moment trying to figure out what to say.

"Hey… dad… brother… i-it's been a while hasn't it?" He asks while looking at the two graves. He stood for a moment before sighing. "I-I'm sorry I… haven't been here lately, I just… w-well, things got really complicated after, the release of SAO. People entered it, they found they couldn't log out, ten thousand people were trapped inside of it, and I just happened to be one of them." He says with a bit of a chuckle then went silent as if a response was gonna come up.

The moment of silence went for a minute before he tried to think of what to say next. "I-I think I'm starting to get back on track with the real world again, but… I have been having these nightmares happening back to back so… I h-haven't exactly gotten used to living out here just yet. I'm more used to living in the virtual world than I am when it comes to the real world, and sometimes I miss the times I spent in Sword Art Online." He says while trying to hold a smile.

"I don't exactly want to go back, but… there were actually some fun times in that game that I could never forget. I-I don't know if I could actually want to go back there… but those memories are… s-sorry I'm rambling a bit." He then says as he puts his hand on the back of his head.

Then a black-haired boy riding a bike was passing by before he stopped and looked over seeing him in the cemetery. He was about to get off and go talk to him but then saw the two graves he was in front of and stayed where he was staring for a moment. He then decided to leave him be and continued on to his destination.

"… I made a lot of new friends after it all ended though. We do hang out sometimes but, I think school is keeping us busy so… I don't really see them as much outside of school." Satoshi pauses for moment to think. "Mom is glad to see that I'm back, she was overjoyed to know that I managed to survive. I wouldn't really know what she'd do if I wasn't here, but I'm glad I'm still here too. I'm sure she still really misses you two… and… I miss you too." He says while still looking at their graves with a sad smile.

He felt something go down his cheek and touched his face where it was, finding he was crying while talking. "S-sorry, it's just… I-I haven't talked to you two in years so… i-it's still hard living in the real world." He says while water formed in his eyes. "I have to go but… I'll be back soon. Bye, love you guys…" He then says before turning around to walk away. He stopped after a few feet away and looked back at them… "… It was great to see you again." before he continued to walk away.

( **Timeskip** )

After he had his meeting with his father, Satoshi decided to meander around a bit more before he went back home. On his way, he came to a stop when he reached the game store. He saw some wallpaper that looked like it was advertising a new game about fairies. The game just so happened to be for this thing called the Amusphere. He was confused because it wasn't until just now, he had heard of said console.

He read what it was called, and it appeared to be a game called… "Alfeim… Online?" He says under his breath with some confusion.

Curiosity go the better of him and he decided to head into the store. He took a look at one of the boxes for said game and it looked like its wallpaper did, fairies on the cover but a different pose. He read the back of the box and it looked pretty interesting, but as he was reading it, it felt like the game itself was like Sword Art Online in a way, which did peek his interest.

"Looks cool, but… what's an Amusphere?" He asked himself.

"You haven't heard?" He heard a voice before turning to see a girl that looked younger than him with black pixel shaped hair. "It's one of the new consoles in the market. Didn't come out that long ago." She told him.

"Uh… Oh, really?" He asked her before looking back at the box.

"Of course, it does kinda work like those things back in the day called NerveGears, least from what I've heard. Except, they say it's more safe to use." She tells him. "O-oh, are you gonna buy that game too?" She then asks seeing the box in his hand.

"Well… I was just taking a look but, I think I might try it out." He tells her.

"I was thinking of trying it myself. Though, to be honest, I'm not really into these kind of games. But, I kinda want to see why my brother likes them so much so I figured, 'might as well give it a try'. Besides it kinda looks fun." She then says as she grabs a copy herself.

"Oh, I see. Though doubt this is gonna work on a NerveGear." He says as he was about to put it back.

"I don't know, they say that this new console works like one. Hang on." The girl then pulled out her phone before pulling up a browser. "Okay… um… it says here that it's backwards compatible with one. So, it probably will work." She told him.

He looked back at the game and thought of it for a moment. The thought of going back into VR was a nostalgic trip for him, but when he thought of it, there were parts of the Virtual World he did end up missing. Thinking of going back into a game that sounded like Sword Art Online sounded like something someone didn't want to do but, if no one could actually die IRL, then it didn't sound all too bad.

"Are you okay?" He heard which snapped him out of his trance before looking at the girl.

"… Uh… T-thanks for… telling me…" He tells her before.

"Sure, no problem… Uh… see you around." She then says before heading off.

He watched as she leaved before looking back at the game he was holding. He held it firmly in his hand as he was thinking. 'Should I try this?…' He hasn't gone back into Virtual Reality in a long time, the reason he entered in the first place was to escape the real world… 'Well… here goes nothing.' He then had his mind made up.

(Another **Timeskip** )

After getting the game and a few gear then setting it all up, Satoshi was about to head back into the virtual world, when he stopped at picking up his helmet. He started to stare at it with an uneasy look on his face as he was hesitant to put it on. He sweated a bit after remembering his last experience with the Nerve Gear, and the memories were flowing back into his mind.

He wanted to go back in, to try and re-enter the virtual world once more, but there was something that was keeping him from doing so. 'This isn't Sword Art Online… It's not gonna trap you inside it.' He kept telling himself in his mind.

But he still felt hesitant to do so. Even if he knew that going in wouldn't mean he'd be in a death game once more… his body was still telling him not to do it. After a few more moments of staring, he put the helmet on his head and laid down in his bed looking up at the ceiling. Sweat trickled down his face after it put it on and got in position before he swallowed his saliva.

"Here we go…" He then closed his eyes. "Link… Start." Then the startup process began.

 _(Entering Virtual Reality)_

 _Touch: OK  
Sight: OK  
Hearing: OK  
Taste: OK  
Smell: OK_

 _Language: Japense  
Application: Alfeim Online  
User: ******  
Password: ******_

 **Welcome to Alfeim Online**

Ash then appeared in some kind of place that looked like he was in the sky. **"Please enter your gender and the name you wish to be classified as."** He then hears a voice before seeing a virtual keyboard appear in front of him.

"Okay, here I go…" He then says before he enters his name as Ash and his gender in.

But when he pressed the enter, it made a buzzing noise and it confused him. **"I am sorry, but someone has already chosen that name. Please consider another name for yourself."** He then hears which got him annoyed a bit.

"Figures…" He figured that something like this would happen to him. He then thinks for a second and tried adding in another name. "A$h." Enters, but again that buzzing noise appears.

" **I am sorry, but someone has already chosen that name."**

"Oh come on!" He then tries a bunch of other names.

4sh, A5H, A2, 4$H, even XvX_A$H_XvX, but nothing worked. All he kept getting was the buzz noise and the woman saying- **"I am sorry, but someone has already chosen that name. Please consider another name for yourself."** And it got annoying over time.

"Come on, there's gotta be something!" He yelled to himself being annoyed.

He then began to think… he had to have some way of choosing a new name for himself but still having some reminder of the name he used back then. He was thinking of putting in Swordsman's Ashes, but… even if he was called that from SAO, it's more of a title rather than a username. He put his hand to his chin and thought about what his name could be.

"… *Sigh* Please work…" He then began putting in the name.

Ash-17

He then entered it in and finally there was no buzzing noise. **"Are you sure that this is the name that you wish to call yourself?"** The voice then asks as a yes or no option showed up.

He hit yes and was relieved that it was finally over. "Thank god…" Then what appeared to be a group of avatars appeared before him with transparent wings and different colors.

" **There are nine races of fairies to choose from. Please select which race you wish to play as."** The avatars started rotating in a slow motion as he looked through the different races.

He came across one race that appeared to be in black clothing with black wings. "Maybe this one…" He said to himself… but then when he thought about it… "Nah, that's Kirito's style. Not mine that's for sure." He then went through a few more before seeing one with blue clothing, hair and wings. "Maybe this one?" He then clicks it and an info card appears before him.

" **Are you sure this is the race you'd like to play as?"** He then read the card as it catched his interest a bit.

"Undine, huh?" He then thought about it for a bit. "Well, I am one for blue." He then hit yes.

" **You have selected Undine. Your character's avatar will be selected at random. You will now be teleported to your hometown in Undine Territory. Enjoy, player."** He then hears before a bright light engulfs him completely.

The light then died down as he uncovered his eyes, everything seemed to be a blur at first. 'Alright, now I'm here. I should be in somewhere called Undine Terri-' He was thinking to himself for a second before he saw something, he never believed he'd see.

The Town of Beginnings… just the sight alone shocked Ash to the core. He looked down at himself and found he was in the outfit he was in at the beginning of Sword Art Online. He looked utterly shocked and walked forward a bit before coming to a stop and turning to look back at the teleport gate in the center of town.

'W-what?… H-how?… W-why am I here?… How am I here?' He was thinking to himself as he was starting to relive some memories back then before-

"Hey-" Someone tapped his shoulder before he jumped and turned around. He saw what seemed to be someone with blue hair, eyes and attire and pointy ears. "Uh… S-sorry about scaring you like that. Are you okay?" He then asked.

Ash was about to answer, but then he looked around. He wasn't in the Town of Beginnings, but instead what appeared to be a city that was filled with more people having blue for their hair color, eye color, and outfits in general while some were landing down with wings. He then looked down at himself. He wasn't wearing the outfit he wore at the beginning of SAO and seemed to be in an entirely different type of basic blue armor.

He then sighed in relief before the man who was talking to him asked… "Uh… are you feeling alright?" The man asked getting a little concerned.

"Huh?… Uh, y-yeah… Yeah, I'm fine… I'm fine." Ash tells him with some uncertainty.

"… Alright, then." The man then says before walking away weirded out.

Ash then looked around before taking a few steps away from the entrance in order to view it. Even the center of the town looked nothing like the teleport gate to the Town of Beginnings. He then attempted to open up the menu, but it didn't appear to be working. So he tried with his other hand and it worked. Looking at his stats, he was shocked to find he had the same stats from SAO.

He then looked worried for a second before going to the settings and checking something. "Be there, be there, be…" He stopped when he found the once blank log out button now saying the words Log Out. He pushed it.

 **Are you sure you wish to log out?**

 **Yes  
No**

He saw he still had the option to leave and felt relieved. "Thank goodness." He then presses the no button.

He looked around for a second before beginning to look through his skills. All of them seemed to be gone and what seemed to take their places were other types of skills. He was a little disappointed that he didn't keep Aura Burst, but he couldn't have everything. He then went into his items and found everything was question marks. It must have been due to them not being in the game at all.

He scrolled down them to see if he could find at least one item that he could've kept. But all he found just so happened to be a mirror. Curious of how he looked, he selected the item and then the mirror appeared in his hand. He looked at himself, seeing his face looked roughly the same, with barely any differences in facial features.

But his hair was in a different style. It was still spikey, but in a different way (Think of Hyde's hair from Under Night In-Birth except blue without the black part). The most notable part was how his eyes and hair appeared to be blue now, along with the elfishly pointy ears. Although, the color wasn't really surprising considering what character he picked to an avatar. He then put the mirror back in his inventory and wondered what to do now.

Seeing how his items didn't seem to transfer, he was very disappointed, but beggars couldn't be choosers. He thought that it was probably best to clear it out and pushed the trash button.

 **Are you sure you want to delete all your items?**

 **Yes  
No**

He took a minute and thought about it. He was hesitant since it took him forever to get all those items. But, since he wasn't even gonna be able to use them, he didn't have any other reason to keep them. Let alone were they even recognizable at this point. It was a tough choice, but in the end, he went with the only option.

 **Yes**

 **Item storage has been cleared**

Tough choice, but one he had to make. He didn't have any other reason to keep them so it was all he could do. "Back to the drawing board… what do I do now?" He says to himself before he looks around. Then he saw some more players land down with wings. 'Woah, that's looks cool. Wonder how I can fly.' He then thinks about what he could do.

This was a game that includes flying as a game mechanic, so there had to be some way he could learn to fly, maybe in a tutorial or something. Then he realized that he didn't actually get a tutorial as people would get at the start of a new game. Usually for games like these there should be an NPC that offers to show how to play, but he didn't have one appear at all which confused him.

"Hey, excuse me!" He then says going over to a group of four players. "Did you guys get a tutorial when you first started this game?" He asked them.

They looked at him and were a bit confused. "Well, yeah. There should be an NPC somewhere around the center of town that shows you a tutorial. Didn't you see it or something?" He asked him.

"N-no I didn't. I don't know what the NPC looks like." He tells him.

"It should just be over there if you're looking for it. Blue hair, long dress, can't miss it." One of the girls tells him while pointing towards someone at the entrance.

The boy sweated that he didn't see it when he first logged it and now felt stupid for not seeing it at first. "T-thanks." He then decides to walk over to the NPC. "Okay, now how do I do this aga-WOAH!" He jumped when the NPC suddenly turned to him.

"Greetings player, and welcome to Alfeim Online." The NPC says while bowing. "Would you like to go through the tutorial?" She then says before an option saying yes or no pops up and he presses yes. "Which tutorial would you like to go through?" Then several options popped up.

 **Fairy Races  
Items  
Spells  
Sword Combat  
Bow and Arrow Aim  
Skills  
Flight Control  
Ariel Combat**

Ash sweated at seeing all the options and didn't know which to choose from. Items, and sword combat might be something he would already have the hang of, but the skills in Alfeim Online would definitely be different from SAO. Also, he didn't expect there to be so many different tutorials, which meant he would be there for a while. He checked the time and it seemed to be 5:54 P.M. in real world time. He figured that he might have time to check out some new tutorials.

"Aw, the hell with it." He then pushed one of the options.

 **Flight Control**

"Okay, we will be transported to another area shortly." The woman then says before they started to glow in just like a teleport crystal and disappeared from town.

They then appeared in a forest like area and far from any city. Most likely a testing area for players who are new to the game to test out and practice new controls, and the space was probably for in case flight wasn't on his side. That being said he turned towards the NPC that started talking.

"Oh right, I forgot to ask but which kind of flying do you prefer?" She then asked.

 **Controller-Mode  
Hands-Free-Mode**

"Huh?" He was confused at what it meant. Then when he thought about it, if he were to be fighting in the air, he would need to use his hands, so he decided…

 **Hands-Free-Mode**

"Very well. Firstly, you must activate your wings. It's simple, really. Just imagine your wings appearing on your back and they will take form. Try it." The NPC says.

"All I gotta do is imagine them?" Ash asked while not getting a response. "Right, she's an NPC." He then says to himself before thinking… and thinking… and after some time, he heard a sparkling noise and looked behind to see his wings appearing with a symbol. "Woah, that's cool."

"Good job, now we can move onto step two." The NPC then states. "Now this next part is gonna be hard to explain. Turn around for a moment." She then says as the boy seemed confused at first before complying and turning around, then feeling something on his back. "Now, do you feel where my hand is? Focus and imagine new bones and muscles spreading out. Then once you've done so, try moving them." She tells him.

He gulped before trying to do what she said and closed his eyes. After some time, the wings began to start twitching and seemed to be moving. "That's it, keep trying." She says in a cheerful tone. "You're doing great." The wings then began to spread out more and were fully out. "Perfect! Now try it again, without my help." The NPC then moved her hand away.

"Ugh, okay." Ash says as his wings fell.

Then he tried again, with a bit of grunting he managed to get his wings up again. However, as he was doing so, he was still having trouble as they kept twitching, but after a little bit he was able to get them up in the air no problem as he then sighed and felt more relaxed. Then, he attempted to control them as he began ascending into the air

"Excellent work! You're getting the hang of it now. Keep it up." The NPC told him.

"Hey, I'm actually doing it!" The boy says with glee as he stopped ascending and stayed floating in one place.

"Now we're gonna try to attempt moving around in the air. Move your body in a certain direction to begin movement." The girl then states.

"Really? Shouldn't be too hard the-AHH!" He then attempted to move around in the air only to lose control and start flying around crazily. Stopping, then going, stopping, then going, then to come face first with the ground. "… *Sigh*… this is gonna take a while."

To be continued…

 **Finally finished with this thing. I'm not dead if you all are wondering. I'm just really lacking motivation and all. And yes, right now Ash did meet his future pairing, but not entirely. The pairing remains AshxLeafa. I might do one where he gets with Sinon, but for now this is the pairing.**

 **If you guys have an idea for a story, leave me your suggestions down below. Until then, please follow me, my stories and maybe check out some other amazing fanfic writers like Satoshi-Greninja (AKA Phantom Infinite), ashxryuko27 (AKA Infinity Ash), TheD-Rock900, DragonForceAsh and more.**

 **Thank you for reading and stay tuned.**


	11. Land of the Fairies

**And I'm back with this series. Don't take this the wrong way guys, I do wanna keep all my stories up to date but it's really busy where I am and there is a lot of stuff that I work on besides fanfiction. Fanfiction is not the only thing I have that I work on and I do get a little distracted from time to time, but I promise I'm trying to keep these stories up to date.**

 **And I'm not the only who has these problems. If you remember AshFan, he is fighting writer's block right now and as now, both of us share a problem that most people have. You no doubt understand yourselves since you guys have most likely been on writer's block as well. I'm gonna get most of these stories done don't worry… for now I don't have a question of the day, enjoy the fanfic.**

 _January 20, 2025_

Ash; after getting Alfeim Online, found himself surprisingly getting back into the virtual world. He was playing for about a week and he had gotten used to using a sword once again after a while. He did manage to get the hang of flying, though he still does have trouble using the flight system, he is starting to get better when fighting in the air.

He has heard about a few people who have been playing the game for longer and they talk a lot of trash about the Sprigan race.

Judging by what a lot of people stated, a lot of people hated the Sprigan race… which he believed to be stupid because the reasons they made seemed incredibly dumb. And he was quite frankly annoyed at how so many people were going on about how bad the race was, but he didn't seem to have a problem with them at all.

He seemed to slowly stop having nightmares, but even so, he felt like there was something off. He only traveled so far in the game so he hasn't seen a lot of different forests or been to many different cities, let alone the territories for other races. Yet, without things like sword skills, it just felt like he was playing a copy of SAO.

Currently, the boy was walking around the city trying to get some fresh air. After some time playing in Alfeim, he just wanted to spend time in the real world. Especially since he already still had some unwanted nostalgia and wanted to spend more time in the real world than the virtual. Even if he didn't spend as much time in the virtual world as he did IRL, he still spent enough time to adjust to the new world.

He sat down on a bench to rest his legs looked up at the sky as the clouds passed by. The sky was beautifully blue, the white clouds that passed by were majestic as ever, the snow that was as white as the clouds that covered the area. The day was just in other words great. But even still, the boy had his mind elsewhere.

Ash sat for a little longer enjoying the sight, then he felt his pocket vibrate and reached into it to take out his phone. Gary was calling… or as he was known IRL, Shigeru. After SAO had ended, he met up with Gary in the real world and they got to know each other and met the people who were in his guild getting along with them.

He answered the phone and put it up to his ear. _"Hey, Satoshi. It's been a while. How's it hanging."_ He heard Gary from the other side of the phone.

Ash breathed before he replied. "Hey, Shigeru. I'm doing great. Just… enjoying this lovely day."

" _Yeah, well, I'm still not into calling you Satoshi. You sure it's not alright to call you Ash? I pretty much know you by that name."_ His brown-haired friend tells him on the other side of the phone.

"Shigeru, I'm sorry. But I don't wanna be called that here because… well… I just don't." He explained in a hesitant voice.

" _I mean, okay. Still won't get used to calling you Satoshi though. Anywho, I wanted to ask something. Why are you going back to using the… Nerve… Gear… *Sigh* that thing brings up too much bad memories."_ Gary says while being reminded of 'certain' events that were traumatizing to say the least.

"…" Ash paused as he thought about it. "I really don't know to be honest. It's… sort of like…" He trailed off thinking about why he reentered the virtual world like he did, but he couldn't find the words to explain why he did or why he would.

" _Hello? You still there?"_ Gary asked as he waited for a response. _"Satoshi?! Hello?!"_ He raised his voice a bit and that got his attention.

"Sorry, I… well…" The boy was still having trouble explaining why when he heard his friend sigh.

" _Okay, well, I'm gonna get going. You sure you're okay using that thing again?"_

"D-don't worry about it, I'm alright. Honest." He tells him making himself smile.

" _Alright. See ya later then."_

"Yeah, bye." Then the call ended and Ash was left with his thoughts.

Chapter 14: Land of the Fairies

After that, he was wondering what he would do now since he didn't really have anywhere specific to go or anything. He thought that maybe he should visit his other friend Kirito and see how he's doing. Maybe go visit Asuna with him perhaps. But that thought trailed off as he decided to head back home, so he can lay down.

Once he reached home, he took out his key and unlocked the door making his way inside. "Satoshi? Is that you?" He heard the female voice ask as he closed the door.

"Yeah, it's me mom." He replied as he saw his red-haired mother in the kitchen.

"Okay, I just got started on making dinner." She tells him as he walks by.

"Alright, I'll be in your room." He told her as he made it to the stairs.

"Oh, and Satoshi…" She then says as he stops for a moment. "Dinner's not gonna be long, so don't fall asleep. Okay?" She tells him.

"Got it. Thanks." He then tells her before heading up the stairs to his room as she looked a little concerned.

In his room, Ash sat down on his bed without his jacket and took a deep breath before sighing. Then he thought about the nightmares he's been having. Sword Art Online was over. It was no longer playable, and all copies of the game had been recalled for having part in trapping 10,000 people in the world. But even still, he couldn't stop thinking of the horrible dreams he's been having after seeing Kirito almost die like that.

Then his thoughts trailed to Alfeim Online. That game, it seemed as though it was unique but, then again whenever he played it, he always got the feeling he was playing SAO. With the way the menu was similarly designed, the similar abilities that resemble Sword Skills, it didn't help that he also managed to keep his stats from that game as well.

He grunted with his hands on his face before he got up and went to use the bathroom. He turned on the sink and began to splash water on his face. After a while, he stopped but never looked away from the sink. He stood there for a moment before sighing and turning off the water. As he was about to leave, the moment he looked at the mirror, he nearly jumped out of his skin as he stumbled back.

Nearly falling and hitting the ground, Ash had his back against the wall. He looked back at the mirror and saw himself in his real-life attire… but when he saw himself earlier, he could've sworn he saw himself wearing his armor from Sword Art Online.

"Satoshi! Are you okay up there?!" He heard his mother calling as he stood paused for a moment.

"Y-y-yeah, I'm okay mom! I just… I-I just kicked the soap dispenser by accident!" He yelled down.

"Oh, okay well come downstairs! Dinner is ready!" She yelled up to him.

"Right!" He yelled back down.

He was about to leave, but he took one last look at the mirror. He still wasn't in the attire of his SAO avatar and was still wearing his normal black shirt with white long sleeves. That made him slightly relieved, but more uneasy than anything. First the nightmares after what happened in that game, now he was starting have these visions happening to him with this being the second.

His head began to hurt from all the thinking going on, and after a while he finally left the bathroom and headed downstairs. However, the thoughts of the death game never left his mind. During dinner, he managed to convince his mother that he was okay and that nothing was wrong, but oh if only she knew what was going through his head.

After dinner, Ash sat on his bed looking back at the newly set up Nervegear. He told his mother that he wasn't feeling good and he was going to get some sleep, which was only a half lie. He didn't feel good yes, but he couldn't fall asleep. He was wondering if the Nervegear was the one triggering his memories, especially since it had everything to do with SAO.

It was what he used to go to the virtual world. '… Come on… it's over, get over it. Sword Art Online is no more. Why won't these memories leave me alone?!' Ash thought to himself while clenching his head.

He then grabbed the helmet of the system and booted it up. Then he put on the helmet and laid down on his bed, ready to dive back into ALO. But before he could say the words to activate it, he stopped and began to wonder what he was doing. Why was he still going back into the virtual world after all this time? To face his fear head on? He knew that he was never gonna be trapped again but even still…

"Link…" He then paused at first before swallowing some saliva and sighing. "… Link Start."

(Sometime later)

Ash's mother Delia was currently washing the dishes after dinner was done and she sighed as she looked upstairs. 'Satoshi has been in his room a lot these days. I usually don't see him in there as much, but now…' She thought to herself while looking concerned as she remembered what happened. 'I really hope he's okay.' She thought to herself once more before going back to cleaning dishes.

 _Alfeim, Neutral Territory, Ancient Forest_

As for Ash, he was flying in Alfeim with his new gear and look. He now wore a light blue short sleeved trench coat that resembled his armor from SAO but not as an exact replica as it wasn't as durable as his original attire, the white striped parts on the armor were thinner and went from the back to the chest and it had metal shoulder guards. The collar of the coat was also different as it went higher than his old armor.

The armor he had underneath was different as well. Rather than a simple black shirt, it was more of a dark blue long sleeve and it had a steel breastplate over his chest. His pants looked otherwise the same as his pants from SAO, except they were armored with metal knee guards that were unremovable.

His gloves were no longer fingerless, but rather were dark blue at the hand while light blue at the fingers. He also got a red scarf which was the only thing that didn't have to do with blue in his attire, however it was a long scarf rather than his original short so the two long ends danged from behind in the wind. He also donned red and white boots to his armor as well that were made of steel at the bottom. He would've almost like a replica of his SAO avatar had it not been for the blue hair replacing his usual black hair.

He was currently flying through the sky thinking to himself as to what was going on in his head. His mind kept jotting back to the dreams he's had of SAO and those visions he was having of back then. No matter how much he tried to make himself forget, his memories wouldn't leave him alone.

'This can't keep going on. I'll get over this… someday.' Ash thought to himself as he looked towards the night sky. "I really need to visit Kirito more often… maybe I should also check in with Asuna at the hospital." He said to himself as he sighed before suddenly, he froze in midair. "W-what the?…" He says as he sees the sky start to glitch a bit. "What's going on here?!" He then says worried.

He watches as the sky glitches more and more with red error signs filling it up as he started sweating from his head trying to wrap his head around what was happening. His breathing became heavy, his heart sped up with every beat, at that point, he was now gasping for air trying to keep calm. A warning then appeared in front of him saying _INCREASED HEART RATE_ and he saw a window next to it with his heart rate showing rapidly.

Then the glitch had stopped, and he then started to fall straight down. Seeing it was over, Ash stopped hyperventilating and his heart began to slow as it stopped showing and the warning disappeared. Once he had a steady breath, he realized what was going on and quickly stopped himself from falling. Still gasping for air, he looked around finding nothing out of place before he stopped looking and stayed still.

'What the hell was that jus… No-calm down… I-it's just a glitch, just a glitch… i-i-it happens right?' Ash thought to himself as he tried to stay calm. "It's just a glitch!" He then told himself before he finally decided to leave.

But as he was about to take off, he heard what sounded like a familiar yell coming from nearby as he turned to the source and saw a player not too far from him falling from the sky while screaming. He then flew over to him as fast as possible in attempt to help him, however, the closer he got the more the player looked like… Then his eyes widened as he saw what he never expected to see.

"K-Kirito?" Ash says to himself before snapping out of his trance then speeding up as he caught up with Kirito and caught him before he hit the ground.

"Uh… t-thanks." The black-haired boy says as they landed on the ground.

"Yeah, don't worry about Kir-" Before Ash could finish, as he stepped back, he then found that the boy he thought to be his friend wasn't actually who he thought. Rather a black spike haired boy who looked similar to the latter. "W-wait, who are you?" He asked confused.

"Huh? What do you mean?" The boy asked him back confused.

They stood there staring at each other for a little bit before the Undine spoke up. "S-sorry, I uh… I kinda thought you were a friend of mine." He explained to him.

"Oh, okay. Still though, thanks for the save. I'm kinda new to this game so…" He replied back.

"Yeah, I got it. You're a Spriggan, right?" Ash asked him.

"Huh?… uh… y-yeah, I think so anyways."

"Well, you do have a choice at the beginning of the game to choose which Fairy Race you wanna be. Didn't you choose Sprigan?"

"I really just picked something I thought looked cool. I wasn't really paying attention."

To this, Ash sighed. He felt pretty good after helping someone, but when he first saw him, he could've sworn he was one of his closest friends. Then he heard some annoyed grunting and saw that the boy that he presumed to be a Sprigan swipe his hand down constantly. He looked like he was starting to get annoyed and worried, then Ash understood what he was trying to do.

"Ya know, if you wanna use the menu, it's the other hand." He told the black-haired boy who then swiped down with his other hand and found that it had worked.

Then the Sprigan looked a little relieved before going to setting and seeing the log out button before pressing it then getting the notification to log out before sighing. This got Ash a little confused cause the was the exact same way he was when he first started playing the game, which made the boy wonder is this player… could he be from SAO as well?

"Um, hey excu-" He was about to say before he saw the Sprigan player looking at his stats and then took a step back when he saw them.

This boy was supposed to be new to this game, yet for some reason after just starting, he already had the stats to compete with even his own. Then the black-haired boy looked up towards the sky thinking about something, then went to check his items only to find that they were all question marks which disappointed him, just like how Ash found his inventory.

Then after that, the black-haired boy saw him staring at him. "Hey, what's up?" He asked him.

"Uh… a-are you?…" The Undine player was about to say before he came to a pause. 'Should I ask him? He's from Sword Art Online, there's no doubt about it. But, should I really ask him if he is?' He thinks to himself.

Then the Sprigan player flinches before then going through his inventory while muttering 'Please be here.' over and over. "Come on please b-" He was saying before he gasped as he found an item titled 'MCHP001' which confused Ash when he first saw it.

Then the moment the Sprigan player tapped it, a large bright flash blinded both them as the blue-haired boy jumped back and grabbed the hilt of his sword in defense. But as the light began to die down… he couldn't believe his eyes.

When he first saw what was in the light, he saw another familiar being. His eyes began to tear up as he saw the black long-haired young girl, he believed was no more… Yui. He thought it was a dream, it couldn't be real could it? But as he continued to think of such, he could not deny what he was seeing.

"Yui… it's me… do you… remember me?" Then the black-haired boy asked as he held his arms out.

Yui looked towards him and then smiled before tears started to fill her eyes. "I do… daddy… I remember…" She says happy.

Her voice was all Ash needed before he started to have flashbacks of her… when they first met, the time spent together, they were close as ever could be. Yui floated down to the black-haired boy and landed right into his arms while saying daddy again, and again.

"You're really back… Miracles really do exist…" The boy then says happy as well. As they looked at each other, Yui took notice of Ash bringing the boy's attention to him as well. "O-oh, you're still here?" He asks before he then sees that tears were in his eyes as well which confused him.

"Ki-Kirito?" The blue-haired boy then says which caught both of their attention. "Kirito… is… is that you?" He then asked before the two of then started to realize.

(…)

"Wait, you mean you've been here playing Alfeim Online these days?" Kirito asked Ash as the three of them sat on a log above a lake as Yui looked at him from his lap. "Oh, well… you see Yui, we're not in SAO anymore. We're in a totally different game which is called Alfeim Online." He tells her.

"Yeah, I have been playing this game for a while. I brought it because… well, I don't exactly know how to explain it to be honest." The blue-haired boy explains to him.

"I honestly didn't think I'd meet you here of all places." Kirito states before Yui puts her hands on her head.

"I need a few seconds." She tells them as she closes her eyes. "This world… it appears as though it's been copied from the Sword Art Online servers." She then tells them.

"Wait, really?" Ash asked confused.

"Yes. The game engine, programing, graphics format and so much more are almost exactly the same. Though, the Cardinal system appears outdated. Other than that, there's nothing else that appears to stick out." She tells them.

"Well, RCT took over Argus, who did run SAO. It would make sense to say that they must've ported some backup Kayaba made over by using Argus' technology. Why do I still have my old skills and stats, though?" Kirito then asks her.

"I kept my stats as well, I thought it was weird too." Ash tells him.

"Let me take a look at your data and see what I can find." Yui tells them as she closes her eyes once more. "Hmm… you're right, this is the same character data you both used in Sword Art Online. The save-data format is almost identical. So I guess whatever skills that are common in both games must've had their levels overwritten and merged." She tells them.

"Oh, that's probably why my Aura Burst skill is gone. Now that I think about it, there was actually a lot of thing I could do in this game that seemed to be just like in SAO itself." The Undine player explains.

"I figured as much. You get far in this game?" The black-haired boy asked him.

"Pretty far you can say. Though, the menu is pretty obvious, a lot of the fighting and items used in this game are too similar. I thought the skills here would be different, but turns out there a good amount of them similar." Ash explained to them.

"Wait, what about your items? Did the same thing happen to them?" Kirito then asked as he got a nod in return.

"Your items appear to be lost as well. You should delete them, or the error-detection program might find them." Yui continues to tell her father.

"Oh… I see…" Kirito then opens his menu then goes to his items.

He was about to press the button in order to delete every item he had but then hesitated at first. Especially because of all the rare items he had collected from back then, and Ash could understand since he had to do so as well. After the moment, Kirito finally pressed 'Yes' and it stated that his item storage had been cleared as he sighed a bit upset.

"I get how ya feel. I had to do so myself." Ash told him.

"Right, but what am I gonna do with my skill level?" The black-haired boy had to ask.

"The only people who should be able to see those are the game masters. I think you should be alright as long as they don't see them." Yui tells him.

"Yeah, that's just great…" Kirito says sarcastically. "I can't say that I'm really a Beater anymore. I guess I'm just a plain cheater." He then states.

"Well, if you count as a cheater, I guess I'm no different then." Ash then says which caused his friend to chuckle. "But how are you recognized by the system, Yui?" He asked the little girl.

"Hold on, I can't really say I'm being recognized. Give a moment…" She then says as she puts her hands on her head. "Daddy, Uncle, don't freak out." She then says before she begins to glow.

Then suddenly she got smaller and her outfit changed to a pink dress with wings popping out of her back as her ears became pointy. After the whole 'transformation', the two boys looked in awe at what just happened.

"What the-? What happened to you, Yui?" Ash asked confused.

"Unfortunately, I couldn't be recognized as anything, so I searched through some coding in the game and found an unused feature that was leftover that uses pixies as player support. So, I turned myself into a pixie!" She explains to them.

"I didn't know you could do that, that's awesome." Ash says amazed.

"Well, she is technically a super-advanced A.I. so there's not really much surprise." Kirito tells him. "Besides, she had admin privileges in SAO. I wouldn't be surprised if she still had them." He continues.

"Not exactly." Yui then caught both their attentions. "Unfortunately, there's only so much the system can allow me to do such as accessing reference databases and wide-area-maps. So, I have to work with what I've got." She then explains to them.

"Oh, that sucks." The black-haired boy says disappointed.

"What are you doing here? I didn't think you'd go back to playing VR again." Ash then asks him.

"I should be saying that to you." Kirito then says while elbowing him. "Though, the reason I'm here, is because of Asuna. She might be stuck in here." He then tells him before the blue-haired boy looked shocked.

"Mommy! Really?!" Yui then says as she flew closer to her 'daddy'.

"Wait, are you serious?" Ash asked in disbelief.

"Dead serious… This might take some time to explain." Kirito then got ready to explain. "Even after SAO was cleared, Asuna never woke up in the real world. I found out that someone had taken a screenshot of something in Alfeim that looked like her, but it's too blurry to say for sure." He then tells them.

"So, you're telling me that she's here?" His friend asks still in disbelief as he stood up.

"I know it sounds unbelievable, but it can't be a coincidence that there's something that looks like her in this game. And I have a good suspicion as to where she is." Then, the black-haired boy looked towards the large tree in the center of Alfeim.

"The World Tree?" Ash asked him.

"Yeah, that. Think you could fill me in on what it is?" Kirito then asks him.

"I could tell you what I know but, are you sure she's even there?" The blue-haired boy asked curiously.

"She has to be over there. It might be just a hunch, but the least I could do is find out if it's true or not." He tells him.

After that, Ash began to wonder himself. He hasn't even been in Alfeim for that long and now, he's hearing about Asuna being trapped in the game he was playing which he would never expect. Then again the more he thought about it, with how similar ALO is to SAO, it seemed more suspicious since it was specifically Asuna.

"Hang on a second, I was supposed to start the game in a place called Spriggan territory, wasn't I? What am I doing here if I was supposed to be teleported to my race's hometown?" Kirito then asks.

"I don't know. Your location data might've gotten corrupted. Or maybe there was some kind of interference." Yui then explains to them.

"Or, it could've been a glitch. Early before I saw you I was caught frozen in the sky, so it could may as well be a glitch." Ash then explains.

"Well, I wish it would have at least dropped me off by the World Tree or at least somewhere close." The black-haired boy states as he looks down in disappointment. "We should probably get going." He then says before he stood up then black transparent wings materialized from his back which made him jump a bit. "Okay, that was sudden."

"Yeah, that happens a couple of times, but you should get used to it in a little bit." The blue-haired boy tells him.

"Okay, well how do I control them?" Kirito then asks him.

"It's not really complicated to explain, but it's hard to do." Ash tells him.

"There is an easy way to do so. You just need to access your assist controller. Hold out your left hand like this." The little pixie then says as he does so and a strange controller makes its way into his hand. "Now, push it towards you to fly up and to push it away to descend. Move it left and right, turn it left and right." She explains to him.

"Are you sure about this?" Kirito asks a little nervous.

"Come on, she is an 'Advanced A.I.' right?" Ash then referred back to his friend stated earlier and that made him glare at him for a second.

Then the Spriggan player tested it out and he was caught off guard when he ascended. "And just like that. If you want to accelerate, push down on the button, but to go slow, just ease you press on it." Yui continues to explain as the boy was trying it out and having a bit of a hard time moving around.

After a bit of flying Kirito seemed to be getting better at controlling his flight. "Well, I think I'm doing good so far, but I don't think I'm gonna get used to how this things works." He says as he flies around a bit.

"Don't stay up there for too long. Your wings can't carry you forever. Once they stop sparkling, you come down to rest." Ash then says up to him.

"Got it!" The black-haired boy states.

He then flew around a bit before he decided to come down and land on his feet as his wings disappeared. "How was it, daddy?" Yui asked him.

"Well, it's pretty easy to control, but it might take a while for me to have this fully down." He tells her.

"Yeah, maybe I can teach you about flying without the controller later on." Ash then says to him.

"Wait, you can fly without the controller?" Kirito then says surprised.

"Of course, it took me a while to figure out how to do it, but you might have it down at least in about a week's time or so." He told him as his friend now seemed let down.

"Okay, I guess I could learn about flying without it. Right now though, Yui, could you scan the map for any towns nearby?" Kirito then asks the little pixie.

"I already did so, I found a town in Sylph territory called Sylvain to the west. And it's the closest there." She tells him.

"First; I could have told you that since I do play this game." Ash first says as he looks annoyed while his friend scratched the back of his neck a little bit with an apologetic look. "Also, you shouldn't go there because that's Slyph terri-" Then he was about to tell him before Yui's head perked up catching their attention.

"What's up?" Kirito asked her.

"There are other players near here, not too far." She then tells them as they looked around to find the players she was talking about. "One of them has just been defeat-wait two-no, three of them have just been disappeared." She then tells them as they looked as confused as ever before they heard an loud boom.

Turning to the source, they saw a huge red explosion and found that there were several shadows following after a single silhouette. "Aw, crap. That's Salamander magic." Ash then says as Kirito looked at him confused before he then began to fly off.

"Hey, Ash, wait!" The boy shouted out but to no avail.

'Guess they're causing trouble for another player from a different fairy race. There is way too many of these PKers playing as Salamanders.' The Undine player says as he was flying to the source getting his sword ready as he saw three Salamander players cornering a single Slyph player and sighed. "Here we go again."

To be continued…

 **And finally done with this chapter. This chapter went on for way longer than I intended it to be, but I didn't just wanna make it like completely off the episode, so I kinda went a little overboard when doing something like this from scratch then getting to the point where I needed to include the story from the actual episode.**

 **But I did kinda wanna show more that Ash hadn't gotten over what happened in SAO and show that even now it still haunts him. Where was I for the last few days? I've been dealing with a lot of things. School, writer's block, shopping, holidays, you get the idea. I'm trying to get this out as best as I can, but with my life outside of fanfiction, it's not easy.**

 **Hopefully I will get back on track and get the rest of my stories up to date. Hopefully anyways.**

 **Although, I'm thinking of making a few changes to the story on who Ash should be paired with and such. I do kinda wanna do AshxLeafa, but I'm starting to think about changing the pairing to someone else.**

 **So, I wanna ask, who do you think I should pair Ash with. Should it be Sinon, Alice, or do you want me to keep Leafa as the pairing? I'll leave a poll open to decide.**

 **Thank you for reading and stay tuned!**


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